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In the context of climate change, innovative financing solutions and the rapid development of financial technology (fintech) offer great potential for the growth of renewable energy. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China, this paper explores the impact of fintech on renewable energy growth by employing the instrumental variable-generalized method of moments (IV-GMM). We also pay attention to the nexus between fintech and renewable energy growth at different quantiles. This paper also explores the moderating role of the digital economy and the mediating role of green technological innovation. The main results indicate that (1) fintech positively affects renewable energy growth in China; (2) the positive effect between fintech and renewable energy is stronger in provinces with lower levels of renewable energy growth; (3) the digital economy, on the one hand, can significantly accelerate renewable energy growth; on the other hand, under the help of the digital economy, fintech can play a more effective role in increasing renewable energy growth; and (4) fintech indirectly promotes renewable energy growth by increasing the level of green technology innovation. The findings provide meaningful references for governments and policymakers and encourage the accelerated adoption of fintech in the sustainable energy sectors. • The role of financial technologies "fintech" on renewable energy growth is explored. • Fintech successfully stimulates the development of renewable energy. • The impact of fintech on renewable energy growth is asymmetric. • Digital economy facilitates the positive role of fintech in increasing renewable energy growth. • Green technology innovation is the path through which fintech affects renewable energy growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is a mandatory institutional change to promote low-carbon energy transformation and renewable energy development. Its successful implementation requires the scientific design of relevant incentive mechanisms and rules. To make up for the defects in the current RPS mechanism design and the problems exposed in the Tradable Green Certificate (TGC) market, this paper takes China as an example and uses the system dynamics method to study the supply side incentives. The results show that: (1) Scientific setting the relevant system parameters of RPS (such as quota, benchmark price and penalty) and promoting the electricity market reform will effectively stimulate the power generation and investment on the supply side, and improve manufacturers' profit. (2) Higher quotas and lower benchmark prices can increase the manufacturers' power generation, profit and investment, and stimulate the supply side to conduct TGC transactions. However, when the penalty is set at different multiples of the benchmark price, the incentive effect on supply side power generation, investment and profit differ. (3) Marketed on-grid prices can significantly stimulate the supply side and promote renewable energy development. This paper can provide reference for the design of RPS incentive mechanism and institutional parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen, as a clean and efficient energy source, is important in achieving zero-CO 2 targets. This paper explores the potential of hydrogen geologic storage (HGS) in China for large-scale energy storage, crucial for stabilizing intermittent renewable energy sources and managing peak demand. Despite its promise, HGS faces challenges due to hydrogen's low density and viscosity, and its complex interactions with geological formations and microorganisms. This review offers a comprehensive overview of the current research status for HGS, with a particular focus on highlighting the main challenges confronting China. These difficulties and challenges primarily arise from complex geological conditions and the absence of fundamental parameters within potential reservoirs, including depleted oil/gas fields, salt caverns, and brine aquifers. Additionally, we have synthesized the current applications of machine learning (ML)as a potential solution. Key challenges are examined, such as the effects of operational parameters (e.g., cyclical injection-production and injection rates) on HGS efficiency, which can influence phenomena such as hydrogen fingering and caprock integrity. This review also looks into the insufficiently understood hydrogen-water-rock geochemical reactions under diverse temperatures and pressures, a gap that hampers the development of predictive numerical simulations and raises concerns about hydrogen leakage due to changes in porosity and permeability. Additionally, the paper addresses the limited knowledge about the metabolic mechanisms of subsurface microorganisms under extreme conditions, highlighting potential risks of hydrogen leakage and groundwater contamination. These microorganisms can metabolize hydrogen, producing gases such as CH 4 and H 2 S, which may cause steel corrosion. Furthermore, the study assesses the distribution and prospects of three primary methods for pure hydrogen storage in China, considering the current state of hydrogen development and relevant government policies. The role of ML in advancing HGS is also discussed, offering insights into future research directions. This review not only scrutinizes the scientific challenges of HGS but also underscores its potential, guiding future simulation and practical engineering applications in this field. • HGS is feasibility in China through policy examination and potential site analysis. • Geochemical and microbial reactions jeopardize to reservoir integrity and H 2 quality. • Elucidating the present application and future prospective for ML in HGS. • Summarizing the key challenges associated with achieving large-scale HGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonising the heating sector is one of the key elements to realizing the ambitious dual carbon goals of China, which is the largest carbon emitter and energy consumer globally. Currently, district heating (DH) systems have penetrated approximately 88% of the urban heating areas in Northern China. Nevertheless, around 90% of the heating demand in China still relies on fossil fuels. A larger scale integration of renewable energy and waste heat sources into the DH systems is critical for decarbonising the entire heating sector in China. However, a deeper level of comprehension is required to harness its full potential. This paper provides a thorough investigation of the status, potential, and national policy schemes of renewable energy and waste heat recovery in the DH systems of China. Combined with a critical review of recent literature on relevant areas published in both international and Chinese domestic sources, the trends, challenges, and future perspectives are discussed from scientific research and practical implementation aspects. This paper highlights the synergy of the integration of renewable energy and waste heat sources in DH, the energy efficiency improvements as well as the use of thermal storage technologies through the implementation of 4th generation district heating and smart energy systems that could offer a more economically viable pathway forward. • Focus on renewable energy and waste heat (REWH) in the district heating (DH) systems in China. • A systematic review of REWH in Chinese DH systems from status, policy, and literature aspects. • Identification of research gaps based on the review of both international and Chinese journals. • Policy recommendations proposed to promote REWH in Chinese DH systems. • The introduction of international experiences on REWH in DH for analysis in the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of information and communication technology (ICT), a subset of many functions such as visual communication, can positively affect renewable energy development in different countries. In this paper, focusing on China as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the relationship between visual communication and the deployment of renewable energy is investigated using the dynamic ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) method and annual data from 1990 to 2021. Regarding the empirical estimations, a 1% increase in green finance market size leads to an improvement of sustainable energy deployment by 0.01%. In addition, the ICT development index has a significant and positive effect only in the long term. Furthermore, there is evidence of uni-directional causality from ICT to renewable energy deployment in the medium and long term. The recommended practical policies by the research are developing green financing tools, green economic growth policies, and creating virtual portals for financial interactions. • There is uni-directional causality from visual communication to renewable deployment. • ICT development index has a positive effect in the long term. • Effect of GDP on the development of renewable energy consumption is negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impacts of green finance on green energy deployment in China's tourism industry. To this end, the annual data over 1992–2021 through the ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) approach for the case of China are analyzed. The findings confirm that the issued green bonds positively impact the green efficiency of China's tourism industry in the long term. In contrast, the coefficient of issued green bonds is insignificant for the short-term approach. In addition, in the short and long term, the consumer price index also has a significant adverse effect on the green efficiency of China's tourism industry. The recommended practical policies are improving executive regulations and transparent market information, implementing green fiscal policies, green construction in hotels and tourist accommodations, green globalization, operational phases of innovation, adaptation, and stabilization (IAS), and eco-tourism regionalism. • Green bonds have a positive impact on the green efficiency of China's tourism. • Consumer price index has a negative effect on green efficiency of China's tourism. • Economic globalization index has a significant coefficient on green efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green total factor productivity is a vital measure of sustainable progress, holding immense implications for attaining both economic growth and environmental preservation in a mutually beneficial manner. Focusing on green total factor productivity, this paper examines its nexus with low-carbon energy technology using the Instrumental Variable Generalized Method of Moments (IV-GMM) model, based on a panel dataset in China during 2005–2018. This paper also examines the asymmetric impact of low-carbon energy technology on green total factor productivity. In addition, the moderating and mediating effects are checked. The main findings are that (1) low-carbon energy technology is a promoting factor for green total factor productivity. (2) Low-carbon energy technology exerts a more prominent marginal impact on green total factor productivity when green total factor productivity is at higher quantile levels. (3) Renewable energy generation not only drives green total factor productivity directly, but also further increases the promotion effect of low-carbon energy technology on green total factor productivity, showing a positive moderating role. (4) Energy structure transition and industrial structure transition are two internal impact mechanisms between low-carbon energy technology and green total factor productivity. These findings suggest that the government can promote green total factor productivity development by developing policies related to low-carbon energy technology and fully releasing the effects of technology on sustainable development. • This paper assesses the level of low-carbon energy technology (LCET) in China. • This paper examines the effect of LCET on green total factor productivity (GTFP). • LCET plays a significant role in enhancing GTFP. • Renewable energy generation positively moderates the nexus between LCET and GTFP. • Energy structure transition and industrial structure transition are two mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of sustainable development, the renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) may have a potential impact upon the industrial structure upgrading, while green finance will play a moderating part. This paper studies the role of green finance and renewable energy technological innovation on industrial structure in China. We found that RETI has contributed significantly to the adjustment of industrial structure. The research results of PVAR (Panel Vector Autoregressive) model further prove this dynamic and continuous positive promotion. The threshold regression results indicate that with the improvement of green finance, there is a non-linear relationship between RETI and industrial structure. In areas where green finance is relatively low, RETI can inhibit the upgrading of industrial structure. When the degree of green finance development is relatively high, the influence of RETI on industrial structure is remarkably positive. Heterogeneity analysis shows that in eastern China, renewable energy technological innovation has significantly promoted the industrial structure upgrading. Therefore, policy makers should take various measures to expedite the green finance development and strengthen the green finance support to renewable energy technology innovations. Chinese government has the need to continue to implement related green credit policies and expand the source of green funds. • Study the impact of renewable energy technology innovation on industrial structure. • Green finance is a moderating variable. • Threshold regression model is used to study nonlinear relationship. • Renewable energy technology innovation positively impacts industrial structure. • Green finance has a positive moderating effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In recent years, China's wind power industry has developed rapidly, and become the global wind power leader. At the same time, China's wind power industry is also facing many problems and challenges. In this paper, a comprehensive assessment is presented to reveal the development history of China's wind power industry, power demand and cost, regional distribution of wind power, wind turbine manufacturers, and government incentives to wind power industry. Subsequently, future development and challenges are proposed, focusing on the challenge of wind power integration and consumption, the challenge of management and market competition mechanism, and the challenge of large-scale and rapid development. Finally, the corresponding measures are put forward. The fundamental goal of this paper is to understand the history, current situation and future challenges of China's wind power industry. Highlights • A comprehensive assessment on the development of China's wind power industry is presented. • The development history of China's wind power and energy demand are introduced. • Multi factors related to China's wind power industry are investigated. • Future challenges and corresponding measures of China's wind power industry are proposed. [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]

This paper examines the nexus between fiscal decentralization and renewable energy demand by including income inequality, economic growth, urbanization, and economic globalization as the main determinants in the energy demand function for the case of China. Quarterly frequency data for the period 1980–2018 are used for empirical analysis. Our empirical results show fiscal decentralization positively impacts the demand for renewable energy; in other words, fiscal decentralization can help increase renewable energy demand. In addition, income inequality is negatively linked to renewable energy consumption, while economic growth is positively associated with renewable energy demand. Urbanization and economic globalization add to renewable energy consumption. This study presents Chinese authorities with new guidelines for using fiscal decentralization as an economic tool to formulate effective energy policies for long-term development of the use of renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of the inter-regional transmission grid capacity expansion on China’s power sector decarbonization from the energy portfolio, economic efficiency and environmental perspectives. The impact is quantified based on a cluster integer unit commitment model which renders it suitable for modeling large-scale power systems with a high computational performance. The results show that, first, the inter-regional transmission grid capacity expansion has obvious economic benefit in reducing the total variable generation costs, mainly due to the increased ability of transmitting coal power with low marginal generation costs and the reduction in non-served load. Second, the expansion has a very limited impact on reducing the curtailment of renewable generation by 2030, although the extent to which the expansion can mitigate the curtailment of renewable generation increases with the share of renewable power in the generation portfolio. Third, the expansion increases CO 2 emissions of the power supply in 2030 by around 2%, mainly because it facilitates more use of cheap yet low-efficiency coal generation in regions with low fuel prices. To better deliver the value of the inter-regional grid expansion for China’s power decarbonization, this paper proposes that: (1) the planning of the inter-regional and intra-regional grid development should be coordinated with the renewable power development; and (2) effective dispatch mechanisms which account for CO 2 emissions or generation efficiency across regions should be established. Additionally, the government plan of the inter-regional transmission capacity in 2030 is basically sufficient in enabling bulk power delivery and promoting renewable generation across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand Response (DR) has been extensively developed and implemented in the US and Europe. However, DR hardly exists in many developing countries for similar problems such as rigid power market and state monopoly. With the increasing imbalance between supply and demand in China's power industry, the government has issued new policies on DR and approved the first batch of pilot cities. China is setting a good example of how to encourage DR under monopolistic electric market and open up the market to aggregators and DR suppliers. This paper summarizes the current DR status, feasible DR market schemes and DR pilot projects in China. First, electric power system reform, renewable energy policies and power industry development are reviewed, highlighting the problems associated with the current dispatch mechanisms of DR policies and markets. New DR programs and DR-related policies are also introduced. On this basis, the driving forces and challenges associated with DR in China are analyzed. The major challenge is the lack of a suitable market mechanism for the current Chinese power industry. Hence, this paper presents six feasible strategies that fully utilize the existing policies. Additionally, the latest DR applications in different pilot cities are summarized and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this era of global warming the importance of climate risk cannot be understated, and finding ways to reduce climate risk is a topic worthy of study. In this paper, we innovatively examine the role of renewable energy technology innovation on climate risk in China. In addition to their linear relationship, we also investigate the asymmetric and heterogeneous impact, detect the impact channels, and find that (1) increased renewable energy technology innovation can effectively alleviate the climate risk situation. Accordingly, the development of renewable energy technology innovation can make a significant contribution to CR abatement. (2) Pronounced impacts of renewable energy technology innovation on climate risk can be observed in the higher quantiles (75th and 90th) of climate risk. (3) Renewable energy technology innovation is a powerful weapon for eradicating climate risk in provinces with a higher level of government fiscal expenditure. And (4) renewable energy technology innovation has an impact on climate risk by facilitating energy consumption efficiency, which is a necessary mediator. These conclusions inspire us to put forward several corresponding policy implications for better climate risk governance and renewable energy technology innovation development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DSPV (Distributed solar PV) power, either located on rooftops or ground-mounted, is by far one of the most important and fast-growing renewable energy technologies. Since the second half of 2012, China has shifted from LSPV (large-scale solar PV) to DSPV and a series of policy to promote DSPV power deployment have been put in place. Unfortunately these policies were not well performed due to myriad constraints on DSPV power deployment across the country. Building mainly on non-academic sources including government documents and presentations, industry reports and presentations, media reports, and interviews, this paper firstly provides a comprehensive review of China's policy on DSPV passed between the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2014, then barriers associated with DSPV deployment are identified. This is followed by an account and discussions of recent policy changes since Sep 2014, and major local incentives. In addition, policy performance is briefly reviewed. At the end of the paper, conclusions and policy implications are provided. This paper provides an understanding of the recent DSPV policy progress in China and insights for policy makers in other economies which are experimenting DSPV power policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess the viability of wind energy projects in China, this paper takes a real options approach by accounting for flexibility over deployment of the technology in response to a stochastic non-renewable energy cost. The difference between the latter and the R&D-enhanced cost of renewable energy operation may be thought of as a benefit from using wind. On the other hand, the Chinese government provides feed-in tariffs to encourage further adoption of wind, which should be included as a cost. This work, thus, shows that there is substantial options value to China's wind energy program, which is bolstered if the cost of carbon dioxide emissions is internalized. Moreover, by varying the rate of feed-in tariffs, the model may be used to show plausible ranges for the feed-in tariffs, which could be a useful policy insight. Furthermore, the study hypothesizes that with the likelihood of renewable energy to replace non-renewable energy, wind power in China can potentially reduce CO 2 emissions by approximately 6.4% by 2020 comparing to the 2005 level and highlights the significant role of wind power in China's emission targets and energy security. This is a relevant paper, especially given the importance of a sustainable energy transition for China. More generally, using the real options approach from a policy perspective could provide insights about the viability of renewable energy programs and robustness of feed-in tariffs rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developed and developing countries have committed to reduce their emissions through the increased use of renewable energy. This paper aims to compare renewable energy deployment in developed and developing countries represented by Australia and China. The paper firstly argues the validity of comparison of renewable energy deployment in Australia and China. Then, the governance structures in both countries are compared; the paper also compares management mechanisms in terms of funding and incentive support, renewable energy grid-connection and coordination between different levels of governments in both countries. Moreover, the current status of renewable energy development in two countries is summarized. From the study, it can be concluded both countries have set a Renewable Energy Target and promulgated legislation and regulations to enlarge the scale of renewable energy; China shows a stronger commitment to renewable energy than Australia. However, Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism is implemented more effectively in Australia than in China. The paper suggests: augmenting and rebuilding the electricity network and strengthening coordination between different levels of governments for both countries; enhancing manufacturing facilities and incentives for the solar and wind industry for Australia, while developing more-detailed implementation legislation and renewable power quota system for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent growth of the Chinese district heating sector has been very high. No other country in the world can show the same growth rate during the last decades. The heated building area increased six times between 1995 and 2008. China has also enjoyed strong growth of scientific articles and papers about district heating in recent years. One third of all international scientific journal articles and conference papers about district heating came from Chinese scientists during 2010–2012, while Swedish scientists accounted for one quarter according to the Scopus scientific search engine. It is important to identify the Chinese district heating research to judge the potential for future collaborative research on district heating systems between Sweden/Europe and China. The 205 international publications on district heating by Chinese scientists published until 2013 have been mapped and summarised with respect to demand, supply, technology, market and environment. More diversified heat supply with renewable source was grasping the Chinese interest, since many new systems have been established, having more degrees of freedom when choosing various heat supply and technology options. The Chinese district heating systems were compared with sustainable district heating solutions in Sweden. Both countries would benefit from future research cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, India, and the USA are the world's biggest energy consumers and CO 2 emitters. Being the leading contributors to climate change, these economies are also at the core of environmental solutions. This paper investigates the causal relationship among solar and wind energy production, coal consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions for these three countries. To do so, we use an advanced methodology in Machine Learning to verify the predictive causal linkages among variables. The Causal Direction from Dependency (D2C) algorithm set CO 2 emissions as the target variable. The obtained results were disaggregated and estimated in a supervised prediction model. The findings, confirmed by three different Machine Learning procedures, showed an interesting output. While a reduction in overall carbon emissions is predicted in China and the US (resulting from the intensive use of renewable sources of energy), India displays critical predictions of a rise in CO 2 emissions. This indicates that curbing CO 2 emissions cannot be achieved without conducting a comprehensive shift from fossil to renewable resources, although China and the U.S. present a more promising path to sustainability than India. Being an emerging renewable energy leader, India should further enhance the use of low-carbon sources in its power supply and limit its dependence on coal. • Renewable energies, coal consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 we examine. • We investigate the causal predicted relationship on China, India, and the USA. • An advanced methodology in Machine Learning is used. • India has a prediction of an increase in emissions of CO 2. • China and the U.S. present a more promising path to sustainability than India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is vast, abundant and particularly plentiful in energy sources, due to which it has obtained remarkable achievements on economy. However, its energy structure is too simple to support the sustainable development of economy as coal still contributes to the majority of energy consumption in China. As a consequence, Renewable Energy Law was enacted in 2005, and Chinese government announced a series of policies to boom renewable energy industry. Subsidy policy is one of the major forms of these policies. This paper aims to present these subsidy policies and to analyze their effects according to relative data in energy industry 2005–2013, to find out the deficiencies and enlighten possible policy improvements. The original intentions and abstracts of 5 different levels of subsidy related policies are summarized, and the effects in reality are attentively analyzed. It can be concluded that subsidy policies have different short-term effect on different renewable energies, and they all show some negative effect to a certain extent. 6 core problems are summarized in this paper, and remedy strategies are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to argue for the necessity and significance of studying the distributional employment impacts of renewable and new energy development (RNE). Based on the comprehensive review of the methodology and conclusions of existing literatures, this paper builds up an extended input–output model to study RNE’s distributional employment impacts on gender and personnel structure. The case study of China׳s power sector in this paper affirmed earlier doubts that RNE development will indeed aggravate the gender inequality problem and add to the level of mismatch between the structure of labor demand and supply, causing structural unemployment problems. The quantitative analysis in this paper outlined here implies that from 2011 to 2020 the development of RNE will bring about 7 million employment gains, but only 81.8% of which can be realized due to the mismatch problem. The study of China may alert other countries to be less-optimistic about RNE’s employment impacts and reaffirm the need to carry out the distributional employment impacts analysis. This paper concludes with policy suggestions such as providing suitable training and equal promotion opportunities for women, offering courses and vocational trainings to RNE-related majors, in order to reduce the structural unemployment problem and further speed up the development of RNE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the research topics of China's energy transition policy and predicting future research trends are crucial for policymakers to make informed decisions and advance the energy transition. This study applied the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to extract 26 major research topics from the 13,976 abstracts of Chinese policy research papers in web of science (WOS), conceptualized the five most popular topics and used the ARIMA model to predict trends over the next 36 months. The results show that except for Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13), which will first experience unanticipated fluctuations and then show strong growth capacity, all other topics will continue to remain positive growth trend. Research and Development (Topic3) is driven by the urgency of China's energy transformation. Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13) is driven by the potential for the development of renewable energy. Economic Impact of Climate Change (Topic26) is driven by the climate change debate. Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Energy Consumption (Topic7) is driven by a discussion of their relationship and the mechanisms influencing them. Regional Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (Topic19) is driven by regional differences in China's energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 and is determined to increase wind and solar power to 1200 GW by 2030, even though it already has the world's largest installed capacity of renewables. However, the lack of flexibility in the power system will limit the development of a higher proportion of renewable energy. This paper evaluates the applicability of different types of flexible power sources in China for the first time. Above all, it describes the current situation of China's power industry and the necessity of increasing flexible power sources, establishes an evaluation system from the perspectives of benefit, opportunity, cost & risk, then determines 19 evaluation criteria. The BOCR-ANP-TOPSIS method was used to evaluate the system, where the ANP method determines the weights and the TOPSIS method ranks the alternatives. The result shows that pumped storage hydropower has the highest overall ranking, followed by the flexibility transformation of coal-fired power. Coupled with sensitivity and comparative analysis, valuable findings that will help future energy policymakers are reported. • Evaluating the applicability of different flexible power sources in China for the first time. • The identification of criteria for the selection of flexible power sources was given. • Making recommendations for China's flexible power source development policy. • The BOCR-ANP-TOPSIS method adopted can be extended to select flexible power sources in different regions meticulously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The analysis framework of a digital business model of PV fishery is constructed. • Multiple value propositions in the digital business model of PV fishery to create value for stakeholders. • The digital business model of PV fishery improves the operational efficiency of PV power generation. • The digital PV fishery increases the diversification of revenue sources of PV agricultural company. A business model that combines solar photovoltaic and fishery plays a role to expand distributed renewable energy and improve rural economy development. However, the business model of solar photovoltaic fishery is encountering growing difficulties with revenues decreasing due to changes of policy such as withdrawal of photovoltaic subsidies and land control. The spreading of digitization in photovoltaic industry and rural areas provides new opportunities for innovation of traditional solar photovoltaic fishery. This paper focuses on multiple value propositions to discuss a digital business model based of solar photovoltaic fishery on a case with a local Chinese photovoltaic agricultural company. The study results show that the digital business model of solar photovoltaic fishery improves the operational efficiency of solar photovoltaic power generation, economic benefits of aquaculture, and the diversification of revenue sources of solar photovoltaic agricultural company and leasing company. The transformation of business model from traditional solar photovoltaic power generation and fishery business to digital service platforms can not only accelerate expansion of distributed renewable energy and be potential deployed globally but also assist photovoltaic agricultural company to effectively respond to policy change. Finally, this paper proposes that supportive policy may focus on advocating system coupling to expedite the development of distributed renewable energies based on digital technology, and digital photovoltaic combined with rural energy market and financial, which will advance development of renewable energy electrification and promote rural economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Chinese Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) program registers and trades CCER credits compatible with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) endorsed by many other countries. This example of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has become a driving force for the regional expansion of the biogas economy in Hubei, China. Hubei is a notable case that demonstrates how China has begun to decentralize its policy approach to rural green-energy production. Hubei's rural energy agencies have taken a "learning-by-doing" approach to implementing projects under programs including CCER, which have provided both financial and technical support for implementing biogas solutions. This paper illustrates the potential of CDM tools to support the expansion of subnational biogas economies and highlights a pathway for international engagement in local projects that can provide funding, as well as the technological and human resources required for success. Highlights •.• It presents a case study with comprehensive analyses of Hubei's biogas expansion lessons. •.• It describes the significance of both CDM and CCER development in supporting biogas. •.• We address key barriers, including funding and technology risk, to biogas uptake. •.• We suggest that integrating local needs within global ETS initiatives can advance biogas [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 Theses on China's low-carbon economy focus on the driving forces of carbon emissions, energy–carbon efficiency, and the carbon–economy nexus. Meanwhile, comprehensive frameworks that assess China's green economy and also analyze its driving forces are lacking. This paper constructs a green productivity index based on the Global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index to evaluate the development of the low-carbon economy in China. A panel vector auto-regression model is adopted to further analyze the endogenous interactions and dynamic relationships among aspects of the green economy and its influencing factors. Empirical results show that China has seen a balanced development of green economic growth in 2000–2016, achieved in a series of clear stages. To maintain the sustainable growth of the low-carbon economy in the future, China must rely more on technological progress. This research also makes some important discoveries that have not been found in previous studies: the impact of China's industrial structure and energy consumption structure on the green economy are short term, having a duration of impact of approximately four years. Finally, we provide an assessment of provincial green economy development and describe the corresponding policy implications. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • A comprehensive analysis of China's green economy. • A slack-based Global Malmquist–Luenberger index is adopted to calculate the Green Productivity Index in China. • The stage characteristics of green economic development are identified. • A panel vector autoregressive model is used to analyze the interactions among aspects of the environmental economic system. • The findings that the impact duration of energy structure, industry structure, and urbanization on the green economy is about four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The advancement of the Marine renewable energy (MRE) industry will contribute to actualizing sustainable development in China. However, the Chinese MRE industry is still in its nascent stage. Therefore, effective policies are needed to improve the development of this emerging sector and facilitate its maturation. Focusing on MRE policies, this article provides constructive suggestions for the establishment and reform of Chinese MRE policy. It summarizes current MRE policies in both China and in nations with a relatively mature MRE industry, identifying the challenges in China's current MRE policy in the process. While several market incentive strategies have been found to be incomplete and have faced significant limitations during implementation, several non-market incentive strategies are entirely absent. Examining these deficiencies and their causes, this paper suggests corresponding improvement strategies: notably the need to reform the Marine Renewable Energy Funds, refine feed-in tariffs and subsidy policy, introduce a tradable renewable certificate, enact special laws for this field, and strengthen its publicity campaign. Highlights • The current marine renewable energy policies are classified and each type of policy is introduced with examples. • The current marine renewable energy policies of China are summarized. • Deficiencies of current marine renewable energy policies in China are discussed and improvement measures are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the carbon-neutral goal set for 2060, China has promoted renewable energy development for more than two decades. Meanwhile, China's electricity market is undergoing a new round of reform by introducing more market-oriented mechanisms and changing the market structure. This paper investigates the impact of three electric utility market structures experimented with in China on promoting renewable energy through a simulation model. The three market structures are vertical monopoly, weak monopoly (separation of power generators and grids), and monopolistic competition (Cournot-Nash competition). The model is calibrated with the actual data of the regional utility network in Beijing, Tianjin, and Tangshan areas. The simulation results show that the electricity market structure plays a vital role in renewable electricity, and the competition among utilities tends to benefit renewable energy development (wind power here). The study's conclusions are helpful to our understanding of further reforms in the electric utility industry and the long-term clean energy target in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermittent renewable energy sources have been transformed from supplementary energy to dominant incremental alternative energy sources in the context of carbon neutrality target worldwide. For coastal countries, it is urgent to integrate abundant offshore energy into regional onshore renewable power sources economically and reliably considering the scarcity of land resources and negative environmental impacts. However, limited knowledge on the complex spatiotemporally synergy relationships between energy potential (onshore and offshore) is a barrier in making reasonable policies to promote collaborative development of onshore and offshore energies. This study presents a spatiotemporally explicit modelling framework for assessing the synergy potential characteristics of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources. The framework firstly estimates the technical potential of solar PV and wind energy across the country by using 40 years of hourly meteorological reanalysis data (1980–2020), and then investigates the long-term changes trend, stability, and complementarity of solar-wind energy potential spatiotemporally at both onshore and offshore sub-regions. We find that a considerable amount of solar PV and wind energy sources could be harnessed in China, and onshore potential across the country (178 PWh/yr) is approximate 20 times higher than offshore energy potential (8.9 PWh/yr). Overall, onshore solar-wind energy potentials exhibit statistically insignificant but slightly increasing trend over the past 40 years, while offshore wind potentials observe an opposite change trend for solar PV and wind energy production. Complementarity assessment showed the northeast and offshore parts of China present high complementarity effects for hourly and daily power production of solar-wind systems. Furthermore, inter-regional combination between offshore and onshore northwest regions also exhibits promising synergy effect for renewable energy power output. The results on resources dynamic and complementarity highlight the advantage of interregional resources cooperative configuration and electric power grid interconnections. The analysis performed in this paper could provide a global picture for the integration planning and collaborative development strategies formulation of on-/offshore renewable energy across the country. • Synergy potential of onshore and offshore renewable energy was evaluated. • Trend, stability, and complementarity of solar and wind potential were examined. • Onshore energy potential in China is 20 times higher than offshore potential. • Synergy development strategies of onshore and offshore energy were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• China is increasingly involved in renewable energy deployment in sub-Saharan Africa. • Unique Chinese model of renewable energy infrastructure provision exists. • Only bounded local economic co-benefits can be identified in three detailed project-level case studies. • Policymakers should be cautions of overly optimistic expectations of co-benefits. • Implementation of carefully designed policies can potentially increase local economic co-benefits. Investments in renewable energy are increasing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent and under what conditions these investments are producing economic co-benefits in terms of spillovers and linkage development effects. One peculiarity of Africa's renewable-energy sector is the rapid increase and likely future growth of Chinese involvement in large-scale renewable-energy infrastructure projects. Insights from other infrastructure, utility and resource-extraction sectors in sub-Saharan Africa suggest that China is pursuing a specific Chinese model of investments characterised by enclave characteristics and including finance, turnkey project development and the importation of labour and equipment from China. Hence our focus in this paper is to determine to what extent economic co-benefits are created when renewable-energy projects are developed by Chinese investors. To do this, we undertake an in-depth analysis of three Chinese renewable-energy investment projects in hydro, wind and solar PV, based on primary data. Overall, we find evidence of 'bounded benefits'. On the one hand, we can identify some newly created jobs, linkages generated with actors in local systems of production and training activities involving local staff. On the other hand, the extent of these benefits is very limited. Overall, the results suggest that policymakers should be wary of overly optimistic expectations when it comes to assessing the co-benefits of renewable energy projects in the context of scarce pre-existing capabilities. However, the adoption of pro-active strategies and the implementation of carefully designed policies can increase the local economic co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid economic growth in China has lead to an increasing energy demand in the country. In combination with China's emission control and clean air initiatives, it has resulted in large-scale expansion of the leading renewable energy technologies, wind and solar power. Their intermittent nature and uneven geographic distribution, however, raises the question of how to best exploit them in a future sustainable electricity system, where their combined production may very well exceed that of all other technologies. It is well known that interconnecting distant regions provides more favorable production patterns from wind and solar. On the other hand, long-distance connections challenge traditional local energy autonomy. In this paper, the advantage of interconnecting the contiguous provinces of China is quantified. To this end, two different methodologies are introduced. The first aims at gradually increasing heterogeneity, that is non-local wind and solar power production, to minimize production costs without regard to the match between production and demand. The second method optimizes the trade-off between low cost production and high utility value of the energy. In both cases, the study of a 100% renewable Chinese electricity network is based on 8 years of high-resolution hourly time series of wind and solar power generation and electricity demand for each of the provinces. From the study we conclude that compared to a baseline design of homogeneously distributed renewable capacities, a heterogeneous network not only lowers capital investments but also reduces backup dispatches from thermal units. Installing more capacity in provinces like Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Hainan and north-western regions, heterogeneous layouts may lower the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by up to 27%, and reduce backup needs by up to 64%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower (SHP) has a global reputation as a ‘green’, low-carbon energy source that improves rural livelihoods and contributes to local economic development. In China, SHP has grown rapidly since the early 2000s, particularly in the water-rich provinces in the country’s southwest. However, because SHP plants in China are privately-operated and approved by local governments, there is an incentive to construct large, multiple-cascade systems to generate as much power as possible. In many areas, this has led to over-development of SHP and associated negative environmental and social impacts. In this paper, we identify the factors that shape geographies of SHP over-development, what we refer to as ‘shades’ of green energy. We then analyze the direct and indirect impacts of over-development. We draw on interviews and electricity generation data from six prefectures in Yunnan province, one of the world’s largest hydropower producing regions. We find that prefectures that operate in a semi-autonomous way in electricity management and industrial planning are most prone to over-develop SHP, since they depend on hydropower revenues from electricity generation and local energy-intensive industries. We also find that over-development of SHP causes streamflow reductions and unstable electricity generation, and in some areas, drives an increase in environmentally-destructive mineral processing and reduces irrigation water access. These findings suggest a need for coordinated river basin planning on small watersheds and a reassessment of the role of SHP in local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the economic impact of achieving China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) through emissions trading scheme (ETS) and renewable energy policy, using a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. We explored the behavior of different sectors in the carbon market, carbon trade amount, carbon price and the economic impact of an emissions cap and trade on the employment and GDP. The results demonstrate that the electricity and aviation sectors have relatively higher mitigation costs and tend to be the main buyers of the carbon credits, whereas chemicals, nonmetal production, iron and steel, paper and other manufacturing sectors have relatively lower mitigation costs and tend to be the main sellers. Carbon trading price and market scale are closely related to various factors such as the emissions quota allocation scheme among sectors, coverage of participating sectors and the level of renewable energy development. Emission trading is also confirmed to be an economically efficient approach that contributes to the achievement of emission reduction targets with less economic cost. In order to make full use of this approach, policy maker should assign an appropriate emissions quota allocation scheme, extend coverage of various sectors and promote the expansion of low-carbon technologies such as renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

n recent years, the annual curtailment ratio of wind power in China has been around 15%. Although the priority dispatch policy for wind power has been put in place in the country, it is not well implemented. One of the reasons for this is that wind power is viewed by some power system operators as “garbage power” due to its inherent intermittency nature. The improvement of social awareness of the value of wind power deployment is crucial for the effective implementation of the priority dispatch policy. In this paper, we analyze the impact of the priority dispatch of wind power on energy conservation and environmental improvement, and then compare the generation cost between wind power and coal-fired power while considering environmental externalities. We conclude that the energy intensity in the system decreases as the proportion of wind power generation increases, and the energy intensity is minimized when the proportion reaches 15%–20% provided a small amount of wind power curtailment is allowed. Meanwhile, we confirm that the wind power priority dispatch has significant positive impacts on environmental improvement. Further, we find that wind power generation cost is very close to coal-fired power cost when environmental cost is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invention and application of the electric power technology triggered the second industrial revolution in human history, which marked the human society entered the age of electricity. Electricity provides the sustainable power for economic and social development. With the rapid development of economy, the electricity consumption is also increasing. The increase of electricity consumption has further promoted the progress of the industrial economy. In order to achieve the goal of improving the level of economic development while reducing energy consumption, it is necessary to reveal the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth. This study is an extensive overview of the literature surrounding this topic. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in China. We first analyze the general situation of China's electricity consumption and economic development. Then we explore the relationship between China's electricity consumption and economic growth from three dimensions, i.e., the time dimension, the regional dimension and the industrial dimension. Finally, we study the key issues in the research of the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth, including variable selection, model construction and results discussion. This work suggests that the nature of the nexus in China should and can be explored from a wider perspective, by developing a suitable integrated methodological framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there is no specific legal basis for the development and utilisation of marine renewable energy, nor legal protection for the developers in China. The consequence is that the Chinese Government is unable to provide institutional support for the substantive development of marine renewable energy, resulting in slow development of China's marine energy industry. This paper provides an institutional framework for the establishment of relevant laws in China and legislative proposals in legal perspective, for the better development of marine renewable energy. The Chinese Government should optimise the administrative management system, strengthen financial regulation such as tax and emphasise sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The voluminous literature on industrial catching-up in Southeast Asian countries has regularly argued that successful catching-up largely depended on a committed state, which orchestrated industry development with a relatively uniform set of policies, including R&D support, subsidies, trade restrictions, and local content requirements. In contrast, recent contributions from the technology lifecycle literature have argued that policies should be tailored to differing technological characteristics in industries for mass-produced standardized goods, complex engineered products, and—as we argue—complex product systems (CoPS). In this paper, we extend this argument by introducing a set of separate policy mixes for each industry type, which appears most capable of providing the key resources required for catching-up: knowledge, market access, financial investment and technology legitimacy. This framework is used to analyze catching-up patterns in China’s wind, solar PV, and biomass power plant industries, drawing mainly on policy documents and 106 interviews with key industry actors. We find that traditional top-down catching-up policies played a decisive role in the development of China’s wind industry, but were of limited importance in the early solar PV industry, and resulted only in a limited period of rapid growth in the biomass power plant industry. The relative progress achieved in these three industries is not related to top-down policy guidance alone, but also to private sector initiative, international interdependencies, and flexibility in adapting policy mixes to each industry’s technological characteristics. These results suggest that policy makers in newly industrializing countries (NICs) should avoid drafting generic sector plans, but should tailor plans to individual industries, and respond to changing policy support needs as technological capacities and global competitiveness develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural household energy consumption is an important component of national energy consumption and plays an important role in rural social and ecological environment developments. In this paper, energy consumption of 1440 households in 8 typical counties of 8 China's economic zones was investigated. The investigation data analysis revealed significant difference of different economic zones in rural household energy consumption level and structure. For 8 studying counties, the annual average energy consumption per capita was 26.7 GJ, 10.4 GJ the lowest (Shanghang County) and 86.6 GJ the highest (Shulan County). In energy consumption, straw, biogas, fuel wood and electricity accounted for 44.33%, 23.13%, 12.79% and 9.61%, respectively. Rural families with high incomes preferred commercial energies (e.g. electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) to biomass energy (e.g. straw and fuel wood). The traditional biomass energy is still the main energy source for China's rural household. Research results provide references to understand current situations and future development of China's rural household energy consumption, and formulate related energy and environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's power industry contributes around 40% CO 2 emissions to the national total. The substitution of wind power for coal-fired power is crucial to the realization of CO 2 emission reduction target in China. By deploying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, this paper identifies that the carbon footprints of a representative coal fired plant and a wind farm in China are 810.35 g/kWh and 12.51 g/kWh respectively. Built on these results, the substitution capacities of wind power for coal-fired power to realize the CO 2 emission reduction target in 2020 and 2030 are discussed. It is concluded that China's wind power needs to develop faster than the goal set in the 12th Five Year Renewable Energy Development Plan for achieving the target of 45% emission reduction in 2020. Moreover, the feasibility of the substitution of wind power for coal-fired power is analyzed. It is argued that whilst China has great potential to realize such substitution given its rich wind resources, the full realization of the substitution requires some radical reforms in the power sector in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of shale gas resources is expected to play an important role in China's projected transition to a low-carbon energy future. The question arises whether the availability of water could limit this development. The paper considers a range of scenarios to define the demand for water needed to accommodate China's projected shale gas production through 2020. Based on data from the gas field at Fuling, the first large-scale shale gas field in China, it is concluded that the water intensity for shale gas development in China (water demand per unit lateral length) is likely to exceed that in the US by about 50%. Fuling field would require a total of 39.9–132.9 Mm 3 of water to achieve full development of its shale gas, with well spacing assumed to vary between 300 and 1000 m. To achieve the 2020 production goal set by Sinopec, the key Chinese developer, water consumption is projected to peak at 7.22 Mm 3 in 2018. Maximum water consumption would account for 1% and 3%, respectively, of the available water resource and annual water use in the Fuling district. To achieve China's nationwide shale gas production goal set for 2020, water consumption is projected to peak at 15.03 Mm 3 in 2019 in a high-use scenario. It is concluded that supplies of water are adequate to meet demand in Fuling and most projected shale plays in China, with the exception of localized regions in the Tarim and Jungger Basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological protection project of substituting small hydropower for fuel (SSHF) in China is to consolidate the achievements of conceding the land to forestry and natural forest protection, solve the problems of the peasants' fuel and rural energy, protect the ecological environment, and promote the comprehensive development of rural economy and society. It is of great importance to the sustainable development of China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of substituting small hydropower for fuel in China. Over the last ten years, using small hydropower to replace the rural living fuel in China has resulted in great fruits. By the end of 2013, 252 SSHF projects had been completed in China, and the newly installed capacity of the SSHF power plants had reached 564 MW (MW). The demand of 1.593 million rural residents for living fuel and energy had been met in a long term, 6.29 million ac-res of the forest area had been protected, and the emission of a large amount of pollutants had been decreased. Moreover, many SSHF projects all over the country are still under construction. With regard to the challenges existing in the development course, some suggestions have been proposed. Implementation of the SSHF project will help realize the harmonious coexistence between human beings and the nature in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ayeyarwady basin, one of Asia's largest transnational river basins, shared by Myanmar, China and India, has an immense theoretical hydropower potential of 45 GW. Currently hydropower projects with an approximate capacity of 33 GW are already in various stages of development. Projects include some of the world's largest and most controversial endeavours (e.g. Myitsone). Of these projects 6.4 GW are already installed in 187 hydropower projects (≥1 MW). Despite its huge relevance, the transnational Ayeyarwady basin still belongs to the less known basins, which is largely attributed to its small Chinese section. However, the current knowledge is limited to Myanmar's segment where a limited number of 16 projects exist. In contrast, there are a multitude of projects −174 (18 large and 156 small) - in the Chinese section, including the basins largest one (Daying-4: 875 MW). The combination of small and large projects makes the Chinese section one of the most dense (small) hydropower catchments worldwide. About half of the entire basin's hydropower output is exported to the energy starved Guangdong province (from both countries) and almost another quarter is used for energy intensive industries in the tiny Chinese section; hence currently only about 30% of the basin's generated (hydro-)electricity is used there for households, industry, etc. This results in a complex water-energy nexus that is complicated by a tangled geopolitical setting directly in the border region, where many projects are located. This paper describes that nexus based on Darrin Magee's powershed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a clean, renewable energy source with low carbon content, geothermal energy has the advantages of wide resource availability coverage, low environmental impact, low operating costs, and high reliability. For the development and production of more sustainable energy, geothermal energy has become one of the key areas of development in many countries. Geothermal resources are abundant in China and mainly distributed in the eastern region where the energy demand is the highest; therefore, the resources have the advantage of local development and consumption, which can alleviate the mismatch between resource distribution and demand in China's eastern and western regions. However, the development of geothermal energy started relatively late in China and has confronted many difficulties. This paper summarizes the status of geothermal energy in China and analyzes the existing problems with respect to policies and regulations, technological development, financial investment, and environmental protection. Some policy recommendations are put forward for promoting geothermal energy in China. This paper argues that the period of the "13th Five-Year Plan" is the opportunity for geothermal energy development. With the attention increasing, a series of policies to promote the development and utilization of geothermal energy could be introduced, and this resource could experience scaled development in China. • A review of China's geothermal energy reserves and development status is proposed. • Related policies and regulations, development goals and trends of geothermal energy are summarized. • The main problems of geothermal energy development and utilization in China are analyzed. • The policy recommendations aimed to solve the problem are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China has successively issued relevant policies to support the development of distributed renewable energy sources such as dispersed wind power (DWP) and distributed photovoltaic (DPV). The capacity of DPV grows fast, but the progress of DWP deployment is limited. In this paper, the improved levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) model and the internal rate of return (IRR) are employed to evaluate the economics of DWP and DPV for case regions. We find that, under current market regime, the IRR of DWP in eastern and central regions is 8.81%–10.34% for the grid side, and which of DPV is 9.08%–12.8% for the user side. When the power market is restructured, the IRR of DWP for industrial and commercial user side increases to 12.73%–14.86%, higher than that the return of DPV. Policy implications on grid-connection, land expropriation, and financial support, planning and approval procedure are proposed to promote the development of DWP. Overall, this paper covers the research gap on the development of DWP in China with a technical/institutional economics perspective and a comparison with DPV. Furthermore, our efforts make a significant contribution to DWP policy by identifying the institutional factors that hinder the development of DWP. • Explore the technical & institutional factors around DWP deployment in China. • DWP and DPV gain comparable economic returns under current planning regime. • DWP can have better economic returns than DPV with electricity market reform. • Identify institutional factors that hinder DWP and propose policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents some comments on paper “Classification of solar radiation zones and general models for estimating the daily global solar radiation on horizontal surfaces in China’’, [Energy Conversion and Management, 2017.10.043.] proposed by Liu et al. (2017). In their paper, the selected 4 models were studied before by Almorox and Hontoria (2004) in Spain and they did not present all discussion of their results which indicated that the cubic model gave a slight improve rather than the quadratic and linear models. The proposed general global solar radiation model is not new, it was developed and evaluated before by Rensheng et al. (2006). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an improved hybrid MADM method based on interval Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and interval regret theory are put forward to evaluate five renewable energy alternatives for Fujian province, China. Firstly, the volatility of the evaluation information and the subjectivity of experts or stakeholders are taken into account. Second, political factors are further considered based on existing research. Third, the influence of the subjective initiative of decision makers on the decision result has been paid attention to. Furthermore, the result of the analysis shows that the extended regret theory method should set different parameters to reflect the preferences of decision makers. The ranking results of renewable energy are different with different parameter settings. For example, when α = 0.1 , δ = 0.1 , the priority of clean energy in Fujian Province is hydropower, followed by wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the model possesses good serviceability. Based on considering different parameter settings, the Fujian government should invest, in order of priority, in these renewable energy sources to obtain benefits. And the projects related to these renewable energy sources should be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the status and progress of rural household energy sustainable development in China. A new composite indicator, rural energy sustainable development index (RESDI), is developed based on the improved grouped principal component analysis method (GPCA) which is the combination utilization of principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), and entropy weight method. The improved grouped principal component analysis method keeps the advantages of principal component analysis and factor analysis. To capture the characters of rural energy sustainable development, ten indicators selected based on the criteria presented by OECD are designed to construct the RESDI. The main results are as follows. The RESDI increased from 0.185 in 1991 to 3.189 in 2012. However, the curve of RESDI can be divided into three phases: a slow increase stage between 1991 and 1996, a rapid decrease stage from 1997 to 1998, and a rapid increase stage between 1999 and 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government identifies the renewable energy sector as a core strategic industry. Since 2009, China is the country with the highest annual investment into renewable energy, predominantly wind and solar photovoltaic projects. Due to rapid cost decline, industrial transformation, and policy support, the relative share of solar project investment is growing at a disproportionate rate. However, there is no systematic analysis of how efficiently these investments are allocated; or the underlying risk and return characteristics. Based on structured interviews with 69 market participants, this paper identifies severe cash-flow uncertainty, unreliable supply chains and a weak regulatory environment as most prominent risk factors that currently inhibit sustainable and demand-driven market development. Expanding on the interview results, this study discusses the origins of risk in China and how the institutional response to investment risk currently fails to address the core problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renewable energy power generation (REPG) in China has experienced tremendous growth in the last decade. To understand this rapid growth, it is necessary to explore how Chinese government triggers the remarkable development of the industry. This paper offers a systematic analysis of the incentive policy system for REPG in China, covering wind power, solar photovoltaic, small hydropower (single-unit power generation capacity less than 50 MW), biomass power and geothermal power. The incentive system contains laws, regulations, policies and industrial plans issued during the 11th and 12th “Five-year Plan” periods (2006–2015). Four major incentive strategies of the Chinese government are identified: research and development incentives, fiscal and tax incentives, grid-connection and tariff incentives, and market development incentives. The results show these incentive methods have played a significant role in promoting the development of REPG in China, but still there are some problems associated with them. International comparisons of the incentive policies with those of Denmark, Germany and US, as well as the strategies to further improve the Chinese incentive approaches are discussed. This comprehensive analysis of China's incentive policy system for REPG helps to understand China's experience in promoting renewable energy, contributing to better decision-making in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]