Search

Clues of climate change on the Alashan Plateau since the last glacial period (40 ka) are important for revealing the mechanism of desertification of middle-latitude deserts in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Studies are still rare for the understanding of the specific relationship of climate changes between the Alashan Plateau and the global. Based on a systematic and comparative analysis of the existing research in China and the international academic community, this paper reviews the environmental evolution history of the Alashan Plateau since the last glacial period from the records of paleo-environment and geomorphological characteristics in different deserts of the plateau (e.g., Badanjilin, Tenggeli, and Wulanbuhe). From about 40 ka to the end of the last glacial maximum, the climate on the plateau was wetter than it is today, and to the end of the Pleistocene, the climate was generally dry and the aeolian activities were enhanced. However, the climate was arid during the whole last glacial period in the Wulanbuhe Desert, evidently different from the overall pattern of the plateau. The Tenggeli Desert was characterized by an arid climate in the early Holocene. The most controversial events for the Alashan Plateau are the drought events in the middle Holocene in the Badanjilin Desert. The role and impact of the westerlies and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) systems on the climate change of the desert and even the whole plateau is a vexed question that brings different views in different periods. There is still a lack of definite evidence representing the events of global environmental change that occurred on the plateau during the discussed period. The distinctive morphology of dune mountains and the distribution of sand dunes are mutually indicative of the direction and energy of wind systems on the plateau. It is suggested that appropriate wind energy is the significant key to the desertification in these middle-latitude deserts on the plateau. From a global-scale review of climate change, the desertification of the modern-scale sandy desert landscapes on the Alashan Plateau is generally related to the global glacial period and the cold and dry climate during the past 40 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the world is moving rapidly toward carbon neutrality, and renewable energy technology is very important in carbon neutrality. Among various renewable energy technologies, wind power is attracting much attention due to its sustainability, resource abundance, and high applicability. This study analyzed wind power patents from 2010 to 2021 to derive current global originality and convergence information. For IP5 countries, the growth stages of technology and the patent convergence networks were inferred by time series analysis and an association rule mining algorithm, respectively. The results showed that, during the analysis period, about 5000 patents were applied on annual average, and it was analyzed that China held the most patents at 48%, followed by the US, Europe, Korea, and Japan. According to the technology convergence network of patent codes from all the IP5 countries, patents related to 'wind turbines with rotation axes in the wind direction' occupied a very central position, and 'power conversion electric or electronic aspects' and 'integration of patents related to renewable energy sources in buildings with wind power' were found to show high connection strength. By country, it was analyzed that the US and China showed high patent competitiveness onshore and possessed many 'independent power conversion cluster' technologies. The research hypothesis was that technology development trends can be analyzed and the characteristics of each country can be understood through patent analysis in the wind power field. This hypothesis was analyzed through various patent analysis techniques, and this paper has novelty in that it presents the global megatrend in the wind power field through patent analysis and quantitatively presents the current status of technology development in five major countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goal of 'Net-zero Europe' by 2050, the European Union (EU) has set up detailed policies in the fields of energy and climate. This paper summarizes the main characteristics of relevant policies in the EU and UK and their implications for China by reviewing these policies in the achievement of the carbon neutrality goal and other goals in the energy and climate fields. The characteristics of these energy and climate policies include: ① Top-down and bottom-up approaches are adopted to distribute the EU' s overall emission reduction targets to member states in accordance with the principle of fairness, and each member state formulates and adjusts its own goals to ensure the realization of the overall goals. ② Detailed transition plans are formulated for the power, industry, transportation, and building sectors; importance is attached to the application of new and renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrogen energy; specific goals are set concerning coal power transition, nuclear energy development, energy efficiency improvement, carbon capture and storage, electrification, and building renovations; and the importance of energy security in transition planning is stressed. ③ A sound and mature emissions trading system and a fair transition mechanism are established to support the realization of the transition goals, and developing countries are helped to reduce emissions through technical dialogues and climate financing. To reach peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, China should develop relevant roadmaps at national, sectoral, and provincial levels and strengthen R&D of key decarbonization technologies. At the same time, China should enhance its regulatory regime, and improve the carbon emissions trading system, the green financial system, and the just transition mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing penetration of renewable energy (RE) is expected to be an essential component for China to achieve goals in mitigating global climate change and domestic air pollution. Although China has experienced rapid growth of RE over the past two decades, problems restricting further development of RE occur, among which high curtailment rate of wind and solar power raises great attention. This paper reflects on the challenges and opportunities of high penetration of RE from both technical and market perspectives in China based on literature review. In particular, it emphasizes technical options to address the inherent variability of RE from three layers, namely using interconnected geographically dispersed sources to reduce random variance, increasing storage capacity to deal with minute‐to‐day imbalance, and applying backup capacity for seasonally mismatch. From the market perspective, the paper analyzes the needs of shifting from central planning to market‐based dispatch, introducing markets for ancillary services, and having a larger and more precise market. Meanwhile, our paper further points out that opportunities for high RE integration may rely on deep electrification of transportation and building sectors, which are also the foci for future air pollution control in China. It is feasible for China to achieve a high if not 100% RE system, but first these technical and market challenges have to be addressed in the process of adjusting its energy structure. This article is categorized under:Energy Systems Analysis > Climate and EnvironmentEnergy and Climate > Climate and Environment Opportunities for China's High Penetration of Renewable Energy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green bonds have increasingly been utilized around the world as a source of financing for renewable energy development, designed with compliance requirements and measurable economic returns to investors, while mitigating climate change. However, the efficacy of green bond arranged in the emerging economies for financing renewable energy assets and how the underlying risks are managed have remained to be explored. The paper aims to examine the evolving green financial system sponsored by both public and private institutions in managing such risks within China's emerging economy. A case study of green financing for a bundle of wind power assets led by a state-owned enterprise (SOE) reveals an alternative approach by structuring public–private collaboration while stipulating market-based financial incentives to institutional stakeholders under a political economy. This institutional consortium is composed of a state development bank, a commercial bank, credit rating agencies, institutional and private investors, regional power purchasers, and carbon trading entities. Financial stakeholders' risk in such emerging sustainable investment is moderated by these participating institutions and structured "upsides" from carbon trading aligned with the framework of green finance and standards for green bond development. The results reveal the potentials of scaling up the development of renewable energy by adequately managing and sharing key risks, while allocating substantial funding into renewable energy projects under such a green financial system that is to be complementary with a scalable post COVID-19 economic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind resource in China is abundant due to its vast land mass and long coastline. Based on wind speed and direction records from wind measurement towers at six onshore sites with different geographical climate conditions in China, statistical assessment of wind characteristics and wind energy potential at height of 70 m corresponding to the hub heights of multi-megawatt wind turbines is presented and discussed in this paper. First of all, the Weibull distribution function is verified to be a reliable model for wind speed prediction and the moment method is proved to be an accurate approach for estimation of the Weibull parameters at all the sites. Moreover, the variations of mean wind speed, the Weibull parameters and wind power density at the six sites are investigated in terms of seasonal, monthly and diurnal time scales. Finally, annual energy outputs at the six sites are determined by taking a commercial wind turbine as an example to evaluate the economic feasibility of wind energy development. The results of this study indicate that the six sites in North China, Northeast China, Central China, coastal regions in East China and Southeast China are in rich wind energy areas which are suitable for wind energy utilization. In particular, among the six sites, Tongliao in North China is the most promising location for wind energy development with the maximum annual energy output of 10.33 GWh. The objective of this study is to provide useful information for wind energy development and an effective approach for wind energy potential assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the determinants that impact innovation on offshore wind energy (OSW) for a select group of countries, applying mixed-method approaches for a period between 2011 and 2021. The OSW sector witnessed cost reductions in recent years; therefore, this study analyzed how these factors impact technological innovation in the OSW sector. The fixed effects results proved trademark, carbon emissions, offshore wind capacity, and electricity from renewable energy, technical and scientific journals are significant and impact innovation regarding offshore wind energy. The maximum likelihood (MLE) coefficients are more robust than the restricted maximum likelihood (MREL) and better explained the significance of the variables in spurring OSW innovation. Ultimately, the interaction term "cross" came out significant in the analysis. It signified the importance of the interaction variables in scaling innovation. Similarly, the study forecasted OSW capacity additions to grow to more than 28GW by 2036, at a 48.8% growth rate, from the current over 55 G.W. capacity. Additionally, the infrastructure development of the OSW sector via a fitted line between total global offshore capacity and the development projects observed a negative relationship among these dual factors evaluated in the OSW, showing a decreasing trend of capacity additions among countries, as well as the fitted line relationship between total country OSW capacity and operational projects showed that China leads the globe with operational OSW projects. At the same time, Brazil is the new leader in the world regarding OSW capacity. The general analysis of the parameters of the OSW infrastructure plan showed the sector is declining regarding secured projects, development projects, operational projects, and capacities additions in some countries. However, global total capacity additions are on a steady path, declining a bit. This is attributable to the pandemic that slowed the global economy. This study will serve as a reference document for policy formulators regarding scaling up innovation for offshore wind energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A method for spatiotemporal coordination of multienergy systems is proposed. • Virtual energy storage gain is calculated based on spectral analysis. • The hydropower regulation ability affects the virtual energy storage gain. • The optimal coordination range between multiple energy sources is obtained. Utilizing the spatial heterogeneity and climate periodicity of various available renewable energy sources can enhance the multienergy complementarity, which will further reduce the energy storage demand and contributes to the "virtual energy storage gain." In this paper, we propose a spatiotemporal coordination method based on spectral analysis for a wind-PV-hydropower system that targets the maximum virtual energy storage gain. The complementary effect of hydropower on wind and PV power can be seen as changes in the regulation ability resulting from the hydropower construction development as well as a decreased variance in the total system production output. This method is used to determine the optimal coordination distance of multiple energy sources that are matched over different periods representing typical climate variation. A case study in the Yalong River basin in China obtains the best range of hydropower bundling surrounding wind power and PV power stations under different hydropower construction planning scenarios, and it reveals that increased regulation capacity of hydropower will reduce the optimal coordination distance but can achieve more energy balance if both actual storage and virtual storage is accounted for. This approach can realize energy delivery with the optimal coordination distance to meet intensive and efficient development needs, which can provide guidance and support for the planning and construction of wind-PV-hydropower storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change can affect wind erosion power and hence induce changes in wind erosion rates. In this study, the wind erosion climate factor (C-factor), proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, was used to assess the impact of changes in climate on wind erosion climatic erosivity. The Mann-Kendall test was employed to detect trends in the C-factor during the period of 1961–2017 in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China. Sensitivity analysis was used to determine the sensitivity of the C-factor to changes in key climate factors. Furthermore, a comparison of the contributions of different climate factors was carried out to understand their impact on changes in the C-factor. The results indicated that most of the surveyed region exhibited decreasing trends in wind speed at a confidence level of 90%, while maximum and minimum temperatures showed increasing trends throughout the study area. As a consequence of decreasing wind speed, the annual C-factor exhibited significant decreasing trends, with a mean slope of −0.58/yr. Seasonal analysis revealed that in most regions, the changes in the C-factor had significant decreasing trends in spring, winter, and autumn, while in more than two-thirds of the study area, no significant change trends in the C-factor were detected in summer at a confidence level of 90%. Sensitivity analysis showed that the C-factor was most sensitive to wind speed, and that the sensitivity coefficients from July to September were much higher than those in other months. Contribution analysis revealed that, for most stations, wind speed (with greater values of sensitivity coefficients) was the dominant factor in the change of C-factor, while for some stations, the minimum temperature made the most contribution to the C-factor's change due to its dramatic changes during the study period. Although the minimum temperature sensitivity coefficient was the lowest of all the sensitivity coefficients, it is urgent to evaluate the expected impact of minimum temperature due to its possible changes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of carbon neutrality provides a new opportunity for the development of renewable energy, especially for wind power. In this paper, 11 regional climate models (RCMs) including CORDEX-EA and PRECIS at two different resolutions are used to evaluate the performance in simulating the spatio-temporal characteristics for wind speed and energy potential from 1981 to 2005. The results show that most models can reproduce the spatio-temporal patterns, and the simulation of the eastern region is better than that of the western region. Besides, most of the higher-resolution models had better simulation performance for spatial-temporal patterns and inter-annual variation. Then, the weighted multi-model ensemble is used to project the changes of the wind speed and the wind power density over China's mainland during the mid-21st century under the RCP8.5 scenario. In future, a decrease in wind speed is projected by most RCMs over China, although some regions, such as the southern parts of China, are projected to have more wind energy potential. The percentage variation of annual mean wind speed will remain in the range of ±4%. The wind power density will decrease in the north and the largest decrease will be found in the northwest. However, the annual mean wind power density in the southeast China will have an increase of 2.21% in the middle of this century. The inter-annual variation of the wind power density in most regions will increase by more than 20%. However, intra-annual variation in the wind power density is likely to decrease in most regions of China, ranging from about −20% to −50%. • A weighted multi-model ensemble was used to project the changes of wind power density over China. • The changes of annual mean wind power density vary in different sub-regions of China, ranging from −3.21% to 2.21%. • The inter-annual variation of the WPD in most regions will increase by more than 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to mitigate global climate change and air pollution, the Chinese government has assigned high priority to expanding low-carbon power generation in China. Recent studies have shown that wind power is one of the most promising renewable energy option in China. Although many studies have estimated the generation potential of onshore wind power, their results vary widely from 1783 TWh to 39,000 TWh. Therefore, we examine the different assumptions in these papers and identify three main factors influencing the results. The three influencing factors are: weather data set, land utilisation factor, and wind turbine configuration. For our model-based analysis, we define a reference scenario which is used to compare the results. Our analysis shows using a different weather data set increases the generation potential to roughly 35,000 TWh. This is 54% higher than the generation potential of the reference scenario. The land utilisation factor also has a large influence, ranging between −10% and −51%. The studies' assumptions and data should be subjected to careful scrutiny, as the calculated wind power potentials are widely used to develop decarbonisation strategies for the energy system. • Study results on wind power potentials in China vary from 1783 TWh to 39,000 TWh • Influencing factors: weather data set, land utilisation, and wind turbine configuration. • Model-based sensitivity analysis with nine scenario settings. • Chosen weather data set has the highest impact on the calculated results with a variation of 54%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can public agencies efficient facilitate sustainable energy strategies that can be used to increase the efficiency of global climate policy? We focus on the specific case of climate partnership between Denmark, a global leader within wind power, and China, the world's largest CO2 emitter. Based on theory and empirical data, we argue that the strategy of climate partnership can help both partners obtain a more sustainable energy policy with a larger positive effect on climate change as well as increase the income of both state and businesses through an increased level of green exports. The climate partnership model between Denmark and China, as facilitated by the Danish Energy Agency, creates such a win-win situation supported by the main stakeholders. This low-cost policy suggests that public agencies worldwide such as the European External Action Service (EEAS) should expand the number of such efficient climate partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good knowledge of future wind energy resources is crucial for sitting and planning studies of wind farms. The simulation results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) and a proposed new downscaling method based on the bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU) are both used in this paper to study future offshore wind energy resources in China. The proposed new downscaling method is validated and compared to two traditional methods. It is found that the spatial patterns of downscaled wind speed are highly consistent with the reference data, and biases are significantly reduced by the new method, especially in coastal and shallow water areas. Using the new method, we downscale the CMIP6 future projected simulation results and generate a new dataset of offshore wind speeds in China for the period of 2021–2100 with a resolution of 0.25°. Multi-model ensemble (MME) results project small decreases in the offshore wind speed and wind power density over the East China Sea and increases in those parameters over the South China Sea, for the middle and end of the 21st Century (2041–2060 and 2081–2100) under two representative scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). • The first work on projection of future offshore wind energy resources in China. • A new downscaling method based on deep learning network was developed. • Global climate models' simulations were downscaled to high-resolution grids of 0.25°. • Small changes in future offshore wind speed and power density were projected in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and utilization of wind energy has alleviated the problems of energy shortage and environmental pollution; however, it caused many negative impacts due to suboptimal site selections. This study proposes an innovative method integrating Geographic Information System (GIS), fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), and fuzzy VIšekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) for site selection of wind farms in the Wafangdian region, China. The uncertainties caused by subjective judgments of the stakeholders were tackled by the FAHP method firstly, where weight values of six criteria were identified. Next, the fuzzy VIKOR method and GIS tool were used to generate the Qi value of each location for ranking their appropriate degrees for wind energy development. The results demonstrated that the middle and upper parts of the studied area are suitable for the exploitation of wind energy, while the central and eastern areas are unfavorable. The influences exerted by various weight combinations and climate change on a site suitability assessment were examined. The resulting comparison with existing wind farms reflected the practicability and reliability of the proposed method; the estimation of climate change impacts on site selection provided the suggestion and support of a long-term plan for wind power development, and even the energy structure adjustment scheme adapted to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]