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This paper studies the impact of digital economy development on carbon emissions, which is a hot topic in the field of environmental economics. This topic is within the scope of the Frontiers in Environmental Science and is particularly in line with the theme of Environmental Economics and Management section in the journal. Firstly, this paper constructs the Digital Economy Development Index and its variable indicators to measure the development of the digital economy. Secondly, this paper uses urban panel data to reveal the impact of digital economy development on carbon emissions, and further adopts IV method to deal with endogeneity issues. Thirdly, this paper performs the heterogeneity analyses depending on the characteristics of the city. The results can provide a basis for formulating differentiated policies. Fourthly, this paper further explores the mechanism by which the digital economy affects carbon peaking. The results show that the digital economy may influence carbon peaking through upgrading of the industrial structure, technical innovation, and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on panel data for 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2020, this paper uses entropy method to construct the integrated development indicators of energy Internet, and explores the impact of the development of the energy Internet on reducing carbon emissions in China and its internal transmission mechanism. The research results show that the development of energy Internet can significantly reduce regional carbon dioxide emissions, and increasing the use of renewable energy is an important mechanism for the comprehensive development of energy Internet to curb carbon emissions. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the emission reduction effect brought by the development of energy Internet is more remarkable in the regions with lower carbon emissions and western China. Furthermore, this paper finds that in the setting of the development of energy Internet, the development of renewable energy can promote natural gas consumption and advance energy conversion efficiency. The government's emphasis on regional technology development has an external strengthening effect on carbon emission reduction. The research in this paper expands and diversifies carbon reduction pathways and provides reference for more developing countries to utilize the development of energy internet to achieve carbon reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Optimizing the energy consumption structure (ECS) is conducive to promoting the efficiency and quality of regional green economic development (GED). This paper discusses the current situation of green economic development (GED) in China and how optimizing the energy consumption structure (ECS) can promote green economic development (GED). Methods: A systematic literature search (from January 2013 to July 2024) was conducted using the keywords "green economic development" and "energy consumption structure" in the following databases: Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, and PubMed. In this paper, the entropy method was used to measure the GED indicator system, Arcgis drawing was applied to show the current status of GED development, and the theme of this paper was investigated by constructing the basic regression model, Spatial Durbin model, mediating effect model, and moderating effect model. Two researchers independently screened and extracted data. Results: The analysis of empirical tests in 30 provinces yielded the following results: The overall development of China's GED shows a fluctuating upward trend. However, there is a regional development imbalance, and the development level of the eastern region is significantly higher than that of the central and western regions. The optimization of ECS contributes significantly to the improvement of GED. And the effect of optimizing ECS on GED has an apparent spatial spillover effect. The optimization of ECS in neighboring regions also promotes the increase of GED in the region, and this feature is more obvious in the central and western regions. The spatial effect of ECS optimization on GED is shown as Central Region > Western Region > Eastern Region. The total effect of the upgrading of the energy consumption structure and its impact on surrounding areas is shown in the following regions: Western region > Central region > Eastern region. The analysis of the mechanism effect shows that upgrading industrial structure is the main mechanism for optimizing ECS on GED. Discussion: The results show that the optimization and upgrading of ECS is the driving force behind the development of GED, and that there is a need to break down barriers between regions to promote the common development of GED, as well as to play a role in the mechanism of industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Optimizing the energy consumption structure (ECS) is conducive to promoting the efficiency and quality of regional green economic development (GED). This paper discusses the current situation of green economic development (GED) in China and how optimizing the energy consumption structure (ECS) can promote green economic development (GED). Methods: A systematic literature search (from January 2013 to July 2024) was conducted using the keywords "green economic development" and "energy consumption structure" in the following databases: Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, and PubMed. In this paper, the entropy method was used to measure the GED indicator system, Arcgis drawing was applied to show the current status of GED development, and the theme of this paper was investigated by constructing the basic regression model, Spatial Durbin model, mediating effect model, and moderating effect model. Two researchers independently screened and extracted data. Results: The analysis of empirical tests in 30 provinces yielded the following results: The overall development of China's GED shows a fluctuating upward trend. However, there is a regional development imbalance, and the development level of the eastern region is significantly higher than that of the central and western regions. The optimization of ECS contributes significantly to the improvement of GED. And the effect of optimizing ECS on GED has an apparent spatial spillover effect. The optimization of ECS in neighboring regions also promotes the increase of GED in the region, and this feature is more obvious in the central and western regions. The spatial effect of ECS optimization on GED is shown as Central Region > Western Region > Eastern Region. The total effect of the upgrading of the energy consumption structure and its impact on surrounding areas is shown in the following regions: Western region > Central region > Eastern region. The analysis of the mechanism effect shows that upgrading industrial structure is the main mechanism for optimizing ECS on GED. Discussion: The results show that the optimization and upgrading of ECS is the driving force behind the development of GED, and that there is a need to break down barriers between regions to promote the common development of GED, as well as to play a role in the mechanism of industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency is crucial for China's power industry to meet global energy conservation and emission reduction goals. The rapid development of photovoltaic (PV) and hydropower has greatly assisted in the construction of China's novel power system. The stochastic characteristics of PV power generation pose significant challenges to the reliable and economical scheduling of power systems. In fact, the cascade hydropower station can effectively address the issue. To fully utilize the advantages of hydropower, this paper proposes a bi-layer scheduling optimization model for the cascade hydro-PV complementary system considering power market. The upper-layer model simultaneously maximizes the benefit and minimizes the output volatility of the complementary system. The lower-layer model carries out market clearing with the objective of social cost. Besides, PV uncertainty and market price volatility are considered in the decision-making process for power market transactions. To solve the bi-layer model, a novel meta-heuristic algorithm (geometric mean optimizer) is applied, demonstrating excellent performance compared to similar methods. For the complementary system, the results show that its total power output can be improved, and its output volatility can be effectively alleviated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, 22 indexes are selected at three levels, including the informatization development level, the Internet development level, and the digital transaction development level, based on China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020, so as to build a digital economy development index system. Moreover, 28 basic indexes are selected from three aspects, including energy construction, energy production and energy consumption, so as to develop an energy economy development evaluation index system. The development index of China's digital economy and energy economy are measured by using the entropy weight method. The effect of the digital economy on the energy economy and its mechanism are tested by the static panel, the dynamic panel, and the mediating effect and regulating effect models. The results indicate that the digital economy has pronouncedly promoted the development of China's energy economy, and the development of the digital economy can have an effect on the rationalization of the industrial structure and then affect the development of the energy economy, and there is an intermediary effect. Moreover, the upgrading of the industrial structure is conducive to regulating the digital economy and facilitates the development of the energy economy. The development of the energy economy can be better promoted by focusing on the coordinated regional layout of the digital economy development, building a reliable energy commodity trading platform, and expediting the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's green financial pilot policies (GFPPs) are an important start to build a green financial system in China. It is also an important part of achieving the "dual-carbon" goal. This paper calculates China's total factor energy efficiency (TFEE), analyzes the impact of GFPPs on TFEE, and explores the conduction mechanism. The results show that the relationship between GFPPs and TFEE in the pilot areas is statistically significant. The GFPP mainly improves the TFEE through the green innovation effect and the optimization of the energy structure. The GFPP has a significant effect on TFEE enhancement in eastern coastal cities, non-old traditional industrial cities, and non-resource-based cities with high initial energy. China should continue to deepen the pilot work of green finance, formulate differentiated green finance policies, and ensure green technology innovation. This study provides empirical evidence for further optimization of green finance and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa possesses extremely rich renewable energy resources, including solar energy and wind energy, in spite of this, South Africa traditionally relies on coal as its primary energy source. Recently, South Africa confronted with severe electricity shortage. With pressure of power shortage and the transition to low- carbon energy, South Africa has been actively promoting the development of renewable energy, aiming to diversify its energy structure. China, as the world's leading country in the development and utilization of renewable energy, has long been committed to helping South Africa achieve renewable energy development. This article reviews the cooperation progress between China and South Africa in renewable energy, and provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges currently faced by both sides. To address such challenges, it is suggested to strengthen the design of top-level cooperation mechanisms, create diverse collaboration platforms, prioritize the exchange and collaboration of scientific talents. This paper aims to provide a typical reference for deepening renewable energy cooperation between China and South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid economic development has consumed a large amount of energy, causing serious environmental pollution problems and contributing to global warming. This paper calculates the carbon emissions of the fishery sector and uses Random Forest (RF) for the first time to analyze the influencing factors of future carbon emissions. The results of the study show that increasing carbon sinks dominate the reduction of carbon emissions in the fisheries sector. Carbon sinks will continue to dominate emission reductions in the fisheries sector if positive mitigation measures are taken. Continuing the current pattern of fisheries development, the fishery population has a significant impact on future carbon emissions. Per capita incomes under a crude economic model will inhibit carbon emission reductions. The research results can provide guidance for the development of fishery low carbon economy and the formulation of emission reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation possesses dual externalities of "innovation" and "environmental protection", and enhancing energy efficiency serves as a crucial means to promote high-quality economic development. Building upon the energy rebound effect, we use the balanced panel data of cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2008 to 2018 to explore the impact of urban green innovation on total factor energy efficiency (TFEE). The findings of this study indicate that, firstly, the impact of green innovation on TFEE exhibits a positive U-shaped pattern, characterized by initial suppression followed by subsequent promotion. This conclusion remains robust after undergoing a series of rigorous robustness tests. Second, high-quality green innovation is found to reach the turning point more quickly, implying that substantial green innovation can cross the turning point in smaller quantities. Thirdly, on the whole, in comparison to non-resource-based cities, resource-based cities are capable of reaching the turning point at an earlier stage. Finally, the new energy demonstration cities have not yet reached the turning point, while the non-new energy demonstration cities have crossed the turning point. This study contributes novel insights into the relationship between green innovation and TFEE, which holds significant implications for the formulation and implementation of sustainable development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mandatory energy efficiency label is an effective way to change consumers' consumption habits and guide them to buy energy-saving appliances. However, few studies concerned about the impact of energy efficiency label on consumers' purchasing behavior. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), social cognitive theory and signaling theory, this paper constructs a theoretical model of the effect of the energy label on consumers' purchasing behavior of energy-saving household appliances. The survey data of 396 household appliance consumers in Mianyang City, China, are collected by the interception method, and the theoretical model is tested by structural equation modeling (SEM). Empirical results of this study indicate that consumers' cognition and perceived value of energy efficiency label significantly affect label trust. Perceived value has a significant impact on consumers' purchasing behavior of energy-saving appliances, while label cognition and label trust indirectly influence consumers' purchasing behavior through the intermediary variable of purchase intention. External environmental factors such as publicity and education as well as subjective norms affect consumers' actual purchasing behavior through the intermediary effect of purchase intention. This study provides important insights into the policy intervention measures to promote consumers' purchasing behavior of energy-saving appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The creation of infrastructure in rural areas is an essential guarantee for the economic development and in improving farmers' living standards. As a critical link between urban and rural production and consumption, rural logistics is essential to maximize the efficiency of rural infrastructure investment. Methods: Based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2011-2020, the study analyzes the impact of high-quality development of rural logistics on the enhancement of residents' consumption in terms of scale and quality, using a fixed-effects model. Results: It suggest that this development promotes the growth of rural residents' consumption and quality, with a noticeable regional heterogeneity. The most significant effect is observed in the eastern region. Further analysis shows that inland and less developed provinces of rural e-commerce stimulate residents' consumption upgrade with the help of high-quality development of rural logistics at a level weaker than coastal provinces and developed provinces of rural e-commerce. Discussion: Consequently, it is recommended to boost the building of logistics infrastructure in rural areas and actively cultivate diversified rural logistics operators in the western and northeastern regions. The contribution of this study is to examine the impact of rural logistics on rural residents' consumption from the perspective of infrastructure, further validating the role of infrastructure development in promoting economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain a deeper understanding of the intrinsic dynamic relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in China. This study employs panel cointegration and causality models, utilizing the SYS-GMM technique to assess the factors influencing economic growth in China's green finance sector from 2002 to 2022. The research explores the interactions among multiple variables related to the Chinese economic context, including economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, total natural resource rents, energy consumption, and environmental impact. While considering key factors that may cause structural disturbances in the time series analysis. The findings indicate the existence of long-term cointegration relationships among these variables, with positive correlations between economic growth and total natural resource rents, energy consumption, energy quantity, and ecological footprint. Results also show a bidirectional causal relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption and a unidirectional correlation between energy consumption and GDP growth. Additionally, energy intensity (EI) improvements supported by green finance are linked to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, with a coefficient of -1.933 (p < 0.05), underscoring the role of technological innovation. Further evaluations suggest that investments in renewable energy can promote economic growth, create job opportunities, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-saving measures and green finance-supported technological innovations play crucial roles in improving energy intensity and reducing CO2 emissions. The study also underscores the importance of economic diversification to reduce dependence on natural resources and enhance economic stability. Future research should further explore the economic feasibility and environmental benefits of emerging technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), providing deeper insights into sustainable energy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different from the previous studies that mainly focus on the environmental and economic benefits of the total R&D, we specifically focus on the R&D activities in the energy field, namely, energy-saving R&D in this study, and explored the spatial impacts of energy-saving R&D on urban carbon emission performance and its internal transmission mechanisms for the first time. The heterogeneity analysis from the perspectives of different-types of R&D and different urban groups were also conducted. Results indicate that: Energy-saving R&D has obvious promoting effect on the improvement of urban carbon emission performance, among which the utility-type energy-saving R&D plays a more important role than the invention-type R&D. Energy-saving R&D promotes urban carbon performance mainly through the transmission mechanism of technical effects, while structural effect and urbanization effect negatively affects carbon emission performance due to the existence of energy rebound. Furthermore, there exists significant spatial spillover effects of energy-saving R&D on urban carbon emission performance, and economic factors play a more important role in this spatial effect. In addition, the impact of energy-saving R&D on carbon emission performance has obvious urban group heterogeneity. Finally, we proposed several policy suggestions based on the main conclusions of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the feasibility of a renewable hybrid energy system in highway tunnels, a scenario-coupled construction method for a highway tunnel renewable hybrid energy system is proposed. Based on this method, a tunnel on a highway in southern China serves as an example, and a renewable hybrid energy system for the highway tunnel is constructed. Using HOMER, the hybrid energy system is simulated, optimized, and analyzed, studying the characteristics of the operation of the highway tunnel hybrid renewable energy system in an off- grid mode. The optimal configuration for the hybrid energy system is proposed. The research results indicate the feasibility of constructing a highway tunnel renewable hybrid energy system by utilizing natural resources within the road area (solar energy, wind energy). The hybrid renewable energy system for this tunnel can provide 1112392 kWh of electrical energy annually, with the lowest energy cost being $0.17/kW. Furthermore, the hybrid energy system can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the sustainable development of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice straw (RS) is the residue obtained during the rice processing process, and is recognized as one of the most abundant biomass resources in the world. Approximately 800 million to 1 billion tons of rice straw are produced globally every year, and most of them are considered general waste and typically end up in landfills or incineration. This approach wastes resources and can also lead to environmental pollution. In the current study, the RS was used as the source of biodiesel production and a comprehensive process model of the RS valorization process was developed to evaluate the energy flow, production efficiency, production costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in Hunan Province, China. The evaluation results showed that the energy efficiency of biodiesel production from rice strawand the overall energy efficiency of the rice straw valorization process are reported as 52.1% and 56.1%, respectively. The minimum selling price of biodiesel, which is CNY 3.03/kg, is considerably lower than the current market prices for similar products in China. The largest proportion of the production cost of biodiesel is the cost of natural gas, followed by utilities, capital, transportation, plant maintenance and overheads, consumables, labor, and waste disposal. For the current RS valorization plant with a 5000 kg/h RS feed rate, the investment payback times are 8.9 yr and 7.1 yr when the biodiesel is sold at the lowest (CNY 4/kg) and highest (CNY 4.6/kg) market price, respectively. Environmental analysis shows that the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of biodiesel production is 75.8 g CO2eq/MJ, which is only about 52% of traditional fossil diesel and indicating that biodiesel is an environmentally friendly energy source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Current aerial plant protection with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) usually applies full coverage route planning, which is challenging for plant protection operations in the orchards in South China. Because the fruit planting has the characteristics of dispersal and irregularity, full-coverage route spraying causes re-application as well as missed application, resulting in environmental pollution. Therefore, it is of great significance to plan an efficient, lowconsumption and accurate plant protection route considering the flight characteristics of UAVs and orchard planting characteristics. Methods: This study proposes a plant protection route planning algorithm to solve the waypoint planning problem of UAV multi-objective tasks in orchard scenes. By improving the heuristic function in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), the algorithm combines corner cost and distance cost for multi-objective node optimization. At the same time, a sorting optimization mechanism was introduced to speed up the iteration speed of the algorithm and avoid the influence of inferior paths on the optimal results. Finally, Multi-source Ant Colony Optimization (MS-ACO) was proposed after cleaning the nodes of the solution path. Results: The simulation results of the three test fields show that compared with ACO, the path length optimization rate of MS-ACO are 3.89%, 4.6% and 2.86%, respectively, the optimization rate of total path angles are 21.94%, 45.06% and 55.94%, respectively, and the optimization rate of node numbers are 61.05%, 74.84% and 75.47%, respectively. MS-ACO can effectively reduce the corner cost and the number of nodes. The results of field experiments show that for each test field, MS-ACO has a significant optimization effect compared with ACO, with an optimization rate of energy consumption per meter of more than 30%, the optimization rate of flight time are 46.67%, 56% and 59.01%, respectively, and the optimization rate of corner angle are 50.76%, 61.78% and 71.1%, respectively. Discussion: The feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm were further verified. The algorithm proposed in this study can optimize the spraying path according to the position of each fruit tree and the flight characteristics of UAV, effectively reduce the energy consumption of UAV flight, improve the operating efficiency, and provide technical reference for the waypoint planning of plant protection UAV in the orchard scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]