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On December 19th, 2017, China's Emissions Trading System (CETS) was officially launched, firstly only covering the power industry. Cap setting and allowance allocation are urgent issues for the government. Because of the different characteristics of sectors, this paper tries to propose a reasonable and effective allocation scheme from the industry perspective for the government. Firstly, it adopts traditional methods, namely grandfathering and benchmarking. Secondly, it proposes theoretical allocation schemes. Finally, the most effective scheme is selected for sectors. Results show that quotas of grandfathering scheme are larger than that of benchmarking scheme. Among four theoretical scenarios, quotas in the preferring capacity scenario are the lowest and those in the preferring potential scenario are the highest. Quotas of the manufacturing and electricity, gas, and water production and supply industries are higher. In the industrial sectors, quotas of the light and high-tech industries are lower. Results of regional quotas calculations in the preferring capacity scheme are consistent with the regional carbon intensity reduction target in the 13th Five-Year Plan Work Program for Controlling GHG Emissions. After comparing all schemes, this paper determines that theoretical scheme is the most effective for its balance on emissions reduction and development of sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of serum amyloid A (SAA) in the patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The medical data of 89 COVID-19 patients admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 3, 2020 to February 26, 2020 were collected. Eighty-nine cases were divided into survival group (53 cases) and non-survival group (36 cases) according to the results of 28-day follow-up. The SAA levels of all patients were recorded and compared on 1 day after admission (before treatment) and 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days after treatment. The ROC curve was drawn to analyze the prognosis of patients with COVID-19 by SAA. Results: The difference of comparison of SAA between survival group and non-survival group before treatment was not statistically significant, Z1 = − 1.426, P = 0.154. The Z1 values (Z1 is the Z value of the rank sum test) of the two groups of patients at 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days after treatment were − 5.569, − 6.967, and − 7.542, respectively. The P values were all less than 0.001, and the difference was statistically significant. The ROC curve results showed that SAA has higher sensitivity to the prognostic value of 1 day (before treatment), 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days after treatment, with values of 0.806, 0.972, 0.861, and 0.961, respectively. Compared with SAA on the 7th day and C-reactive protein, leukocyte count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, and hemoglobin on the 7th day, the sensitivities were: 96.1%, 83.3%, 88.3%, 83.3%, 67.9%, and 83.0%, respectively, of which SAA has the highest sensitivity. Conclusion: SAA can be used as a predictor of the prognosis in patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

App-based ride-hailing is a newly emergent mode of travel that is expected to influence passengers' travel behavior significantly. In this study, we define app-based ride-hailing services to include hailing of taxis through smartphone apps and sharing of private vehicles (car sharing is not included). This paper is one of the first quantitative studies to examine how app-based ride hailing would impact passengers' choice of travel mode and change car-purchasing behaviors. China is taken as the empirical context, and the data are from a large-scale app-based survey conducted via the largest app-based ride-hailing platform in the world. Drawing on these rich survey data, the investigation covers both the short-term travel mode choices and long-term car-purchasing behaviors of app-based ride-hailing users. The research findings are helpful in understanding changes in urban residents' travel behaviors under in context of app-based ride hailing, and provide valuable in-depth insights for both governments and app-based ride-hailing service providers (i.e., enterprises) for the management and regulation of ride hailing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Web of Science database, this paper uses the bibliometric method to analyze the characteristics of the most relevant studies of carbon price in emissions trading scheme. Researchers have shed light on this research field since 1994. The USA and China occupy the leading research position in this field. The most productive journal is Energy Policy and the most productive author is Chevallier J. Chinese Academy of Sciences is the institution with the most publications related to carbon price. Cooperation analysis shows that the cooperation between authors, institutions and countries is constantly growing. We find out that carbon price fluctuation, influencing factors of carbon price, price mechanism of the carbon market, theory analysis of carbon pricing policy and carbon price effects are the main areas of research focus. Also, we detect that different policies, emissions level and energy prices are the main influencing factors on carbon price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-carbon transition of power industry plays a vital role in China's energy system revolution. Both policy support and cost reductions have greatly driven the development of renewable energy technologies, especially wind and solar power generation technologies. Considering the cost uncertainty of renewables, we developed a National Energy Technology-Power model to assess the possible low-carbon transition pathways for six regional power industries using four renewable energy cost change scenarios. Resource endowments and technology developments trends were also considered to achieve an effective and coordinated utilization of various resources. The results show that declining renewable energy costs have a great impact on the spatial and temporal development of power generation technologies, and on the interregional clean power transmission. If the investment costs of renewable energy technologies continue to decline at a high speed and the renewables could be dramatically developed, the CO 2 emissions of China's power industry is expected to peak at 3.12 GtCO 2 in 2026. Accordingly, the capacity share of renewable energy technologies in regional power industries would exceed 50% except in East China, and the total installed coal-fired technology capacity would fall to 760.2 GW in 2050. In addition, to promote the optimal allocation of resources, the total amounts of interregional clean power transmission are suggested to be 416 TWh in 2035 and 587 TWh in 2050, i.e., 4.9% and 5.5% of the total amount of power generation, respectively. 106 TWh of wind power is expected to be exported from Northwest to Center and East regions in 2050; and 112 TWh of solar power is suggested to be exported from North to Center, East and South regions. The Northwest region is the largest exporter of clean power while the East region is the main importer. These conclusions could support the regional plan of power transmission network. • Explore the impacts of cost uncertainty of renewables on China's power industry. • Develop a NET-Power model to combine power supply and transmission optimization. • Propose technological pathways for regional power industries with endowments. • The CO 2 emissions of China's power industry are likely to peak at 2026. • The cost decline of renewables will affect interregional clean power transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions trading is being used by more and more countries or regions to solve the global warming problem. The establishment of China’s carbon market mechanism is still under exploration and improvement. This paper focuses on the price determination mechanism in the carbon market. Based on the price theories, we analyze the theoretical basis of the carbon price formation and the carbon price transmission mechanism from the perspective of the agents that affect carbon price. From these angles including residents’ demands, enterprises’ actual emissions and indirect effects on residents’ demands, the government’s setting for carbon market institutions and indirect effects on residents and enterprises, as well as energy markets and financial markets, we analyze how these factors influence the carbon price. In turn, we discuss how carbon price affects the enterprise costs, energy-saving technologies and residents’ welfare. Besides, we summarize the current price mechanism of domestic and overseas major carbon markets. Finally, based on the current research on carbon price theory and its influencing factors, we also present some further directions on carbon price mechanism and influencing factors including China’s carbon market price mechanism design, the quantitative analysis of carbon price factors and improvement of carbon price theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration have launched a series of policies on closing down small coal-power units, in order to reduce energy consumption and pollutant emissions. However, it is hard to change current situation in the short term since coal is still the domain source of power generation in China. Aiming at efficiently closing down the small power units, to create a power generation planning model with minimized costs needs to take both economic and technical aspects into account. In this paper, eight types of coal-fired generators are classified into three categories: Inefficient units; Efficient units; and Low-carbon units. This paper has developed a power generation planning model under multiple constraint conditions such as coal-power demand, total installed capacity, and carbon capture etc. Also, the model involves variable costs of CCS technology and contingency payments at the same time. This paper has applied the power generation planning model into China’s coal-fired power industry research during the period from 2016 to 2030. The results show that because the coal-power demand ends up with a drop following a rise, the total costs thereby shows a same trend. During the planning period, the fuel costs and the operation and maintenance costs decrease most obviously. Given the installed capacity, compared with the increase in the number of efficient units, the number of inefficient units shows a gradual decrease. The number of low-carbon units displays a slight increase. Since low-carbon units can capture and store 90% of their carbon emissions, the total carbon emissions from coal-fired power industry have significantly been reduced in their operation year. Thus, it is imperative to develop high efficiency and low-carbon units as they will be the major contributors to the sustainable development of the coal-fired power industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport sector is a major consumer of fossil fuels and, consequently, one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant emissions. In recent years, global transport's emissions have experienced a remarkable increase and will become a crucial cause of global warming in the next few decades. The public has become well aware of the issues regarding carbon emissions in this sector, and reducing greenhouse gases has also become a regulatory agenda of governments around the globe. Emissions trading schemes are considered one of the most cost-efficient ways of controlling greenhouse gas emissions and have been implemented by many countries around the world. While several countries have already incorporated the transport sector into their emissions trading schemes, China is in the process of incorporating a part of the transport sector into its emission trading scheme pilots. Introducing a market mechanism to reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector is still at a nascent stage and much is still to be explored. This paper explores the current development and challenges of applying carbon trading mechanisms in the transport sector around the world. Then, the paper analyzes the policies and current developments of incorporating the transport sector in China's carbon trading pilots. Several suggestions are then provided in regard to options on transport sector entities coverage, initial allowance allocation models, integration of carbon trading policies with existing policies, collection of transportation statistics and rolling out a nationwide carbon trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2015, China government announced that the national carbon emissions trading market is expected to start in 2017. Carbon emission trading system is a raising concern from day to day, in which the allocation of carbon quotas has the closest relationship with trading units directly determining the cost of carbon trading. Initial allowance allocation is fundamental, but it proposes difficulty in terms of the trading mechanism design. This paper is based on the total control principle of national layout, in which the government sets up the cap of emissions in the carbon emissions trading system and focuses on the historical emission allocation concept from the perspective of fairness and history responsibility meaning that the allocation of quota in the future is based on the historical emissions. Firstly, we carry out comparative analysis based on the economy development and the emissions of 31 provinces and cities in China and select the sign-post province, Hebei. Secondly, we take the sign-post province as benchmarking and compare the benchmarking with the other provinces on the economy to set three quota situations of different initial years. Finally, we conduct quota calculation of residual carbon dioxide of various provinces by the end of 2020 and provide the specific quota calculation plans under different situations. The result of quota indicates: Most provinces still have more or less surplus to reallocate by the end of 2020; some provinces and cities have developing economy at expense of large emission and old industrial area with high energy consumption and high coal demand are in the shortage of future emission space; for the developed areas, the earlier emissions accounting is not good for their owning surplus; the earlier the years we select as the starting to account the quota, the greater the reductions space we will have. Meanwhile, we carry out testing of the feasibility of self-providing quota plans. These results may provide corresponding policy advice for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative externalities apart from carbon emissions are often neglected in most power generation planning models, which will affect the human health, biodiversity, crop yield and land use greatly. To achieve a sustainable development of China’s power industry, this paper develops a deterministic linear programming model with consideration of the non-carbon externalities. This model has been applied for the case study of China for the period from 2015 to 2030, through which some interesting results have been drawn. Firstly, most of the new capacity additions are from the non-fossil fuel power plants in this planning horizon, which account for 84% of the total new capacity additions. Secondly, the power generation priority would better be given to the non-fossil fuel power plants in this horizon under the cost-effectiveness criteria. Thirdly, the minimum total cost of China’s power planning is 34.48 trillion yuan, which equals to 2% of China’s GDP during the planning horizon. Finally, neglecting of non-carbon externalities does have a significant influence on the power planning results, which will lead to a higher power generation share of technology with bigger negative externalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China intends to launch the national trade system of carbon emissions in 2017. Assigning the initial quotas properly under the fixed overall amount for the power sectors which are the main members contained in the trade system is one of the most difficult and important parts. The purpose of this paper was to achieve a fair allocation as far as possible. After analyzing the carbon emissions from thermal power generation among all 30 provinces in China, this paper sets the mixed quota allocation method which is most proper for each province, taking the survival and development into account. The zero sum gains DEA model (hereinafter referred to as ZSG-DEA) is used to evaluate the efficiency of production with given initial quota. The result indicates that the emissions of power sectors take more than 40 % in all. Moreover, the more the thermal power is, the more emissions would be. The mixed quota allocation method could make 76 % of province be in the status of normal operation. Moreover, the average efficiency of the project reaches 83.38 %; meanwhile, all 30 provinces could reach DEA efficiency by three adjustments of iterations. The project employed in this paper would provide references for policymakers to establish and operate the carbon emissions trading market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a large number of rural-urban migrant workers in the 'semi-urban' states, and their consumption pattern differs from that of rural residents and urban residents. To ensure that society develops sustainably and stably, it is necessary to be concerned about the issues of migrant workers. Based on the data gathered and processed, this paper focuses on the impacts of the consumption of China's migrant workers on energy use and CO emissions using the input-output method. The results show that: the living conditions, health care and allocation of educational resources have not been effectively ensured for migrant workers. The total CO emission per capita of migrant workers is relatively low, at two-thirds of the national average and less than one-third that of urban residents. Marginal energy consumption and marginal carbon emission coefficients of migrant workers are slightly lower than the national average level, at 4.9 tce (tonne of standard coal equivalent) per million yuan and 11.6 t CO per million yuan lower than those of urban residents. The sectors of food manufacture, and production and distribution of electricity make the greatest contributions to the total carbon emissions of migrant workers, at up to 36.3 %. The citizenization of migrant workers will lead to an increase of 272 million tons of CO emissions of primary energy, and the top ten sectors, led by the sectors of electricity production and distribution, and health, will produce more than 60 % of the total increase in carbon emissions. With the acceleration of urbanization and citizenization, the total carbon emissions embodied in the consumption of migrant workers are likely to rise. Further efforts are required to control and reduce the indirect carbon emission, such as by improving energy price mechanism and optimization of the power structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is predicted to have higher drought risk with global warming, and for better preparedness and mitigation, it is necessary to find out the risky areas and reveal the essential causes. This paper develops an integrated index of drought risk following the pressure-state-impact process in which drought hazard and vulnerability are reflected by two stages of pressure-state and state-impact, respectively. Accordingly, the network structure data envelopment analysis model is employed to calculate the degree of drought risk, hazard and vulnerability. Then, this study evaluates 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China, and the tempospatial patterns of regional drought hazard, vulnerability and risk during 2006-2011 are presented. Moreover, the determinants of risk in different parts of China are also investigated. The results suggest that the northeast and southwest of China are more potential to be affected by drought due to the high degree of hazard and vulnerability. The dominant factor affecting drought risk in the northwest is vulnerability, because the hazard in this part is comparatively low. However, although the drought situation is severe in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the southeastern coastal areas, the strong resilience to drought makes the risk remain low. It is concluded that the effective way to decrease drought risk is to promote the level of water efficiency and agricultural irrigation, so that low sensitivity and high adaptive capacity would contribute to vulnerability reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop an hourly-resolution, multi-region model with total system cost optimized. • Energy storage technology can meet 85.8%-by-2050 renewable energy penetration. • UHVDC transmission technology is the most economical way for RES integration. • Optimal combination of UHVDC grid and ES can achieve 74.2% renewables penetration. • The cost-optimal operation strategy varies among six regions in planning period. High renewable energy penetration is an effective way to decarbonize the power system. However, many studies focus on the economics of integrating renewables at the generation-side rather than system-wide. This paper aims to explore the cost-optimal operation strategies of a renewable-dominant power system. Considering both cost reduction potential of energy storage technology and regional investment cost variance of ultra-high voltage direct current grids, an hourly-resolution, multi-region model with total system costs minimized is proposed. Moreover, energy storage-based, ultra-high voltage direct current-based, and mixed scenarios are taken into consideration to investigate the economics of high renewables penetration. The results show that energy storage technology can achieve maximum penetration of renewable energy at 85.8% while the total system cost is 11.8% higher than that of ultra-high voltage direct current transmission technology. Although ultra-high voltage direct current grid is the most economical option to integrate renewables, the penetration is 13 percentage points lower than that of energy storage technology. The combination of energy storage technology and ultra-high voltage direct current grid can achieve 74.2% renewable energy penetration, saving 9.4% of total system costs compared to that of energy storage technology only. The cost-optimal option for East and South China is to promote both energy storage and ultra-high voltage direct current technologies. Energy storage technology is preferred among North, Northwest and Northeast China, while ultra-high voltage direct current grid is the optimal option for Center China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the quantitative effects of climatic factors (cold and hot events represented by cooling and heating degree days, wind speed, precipitation and sunshine duration) on electricity consumptions in the four sectors of China and draw the curves of temperature sensitivity of each sector. The results of impacts of climatic factors demonstrate that the household sector and the tertiary industry are more sensitive to the hot and cold events than the primary and the secondary industry; the stimulation of the cold pressure on the electricity use of the household sector, the secondary and the tertiary industry is approximately 1/2 of that of the same degree of the hot event; under the condition of temperatures rise, the saved amount of electricity is not sufficient to offset the incremental electricity consumption for each sector; the impact on the secondary industrial relative amount is minimum but absolute amount is highest while that of primary industry is opposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report eight sets of multivariate regression equations, introducing the socioeconomic factors for the estimation models of monthly electricity consumption in the primary, secondary, tertiary industry, and the household sectors, to study the quantitative effects of socioeconomic factors (electricity real price, activity level, income, holiday, etc.). The results demonstrate that the price elasticity of electricity demand in the household and the secondary industry sectors is significant. When the electricity price increases by 1 %, the demand in the household and secondary industry sectors reduces by 0.4-0.5 % with a time lag for the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been the world's largest producer and consumer of air conditioners, and more and more RACs 1 1 The RACs is short for room air conditioners. would be owned by China's households along with the rapid economic development. Air Conditioner is also considered as one of the largest potential contributors to energy reduction among home appliances because of the huge energy consumption. Therefore, the national energy efficiency standards were issued to promote the use and production of high-efficient RACs. According to China's energy efficiency standards, this paper investigated the electricity savings and CO 2 emission reductions from RACs over the period of 2005–2025. The results indicate that the rural RAC market which develops more slowly than the urban one still has great potential, and government has to revise subsidy policies to make the standards more effective, especially for rural areas. In 2025, the total electricity consumption of RACs is projected to be 598–674 TW h, while the amount without energy efficiency standards is 753 TW h. From 2005 to 2025, the energy efficiency standards for RACs can save 1430–2540 TW h electricity and reduce 908.3–1610. 1 Mt CO 2 emissions in different scenarios. Finally, we suggest that the standards should be revised every 4 or 5 years with higher revision pace of 8% to 10% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY In order to solve the contradictions that the static input-output table cannot be used for dynamic analysis, this paper unified the 2002, 2005, and 2007 input-output tables into 25 industries. Full energy intensity and embodied energy of China's export trade can be calculated quantitatively based on input-output analysis approach. We can get the time series data of 2001-2009 through the corrections of energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product, consumer price index, and exchange rate, and then analyze the trends of energy consumption of key industries. The results show that full energy intensity of China's 25 industries takes on downward trend generally, and the embodied energy of China's export trade is increased firstly and then has a downward trend. Processing trade had great impact on full energy intensity and embodied energy after deducting the processing trade; full energy intensity and embodied energy had decreased greatly. Smelting and pressing of metals, manufacture of chemicals, manufacture of communication equipment, computers, and other electronic equipment, and manufacture of textile are the largest energy-consuming industries of export trade in China. The trends of energy consumption in these four industries are similar to the total energy consumption; changes in export trade is the main reason for this result. Full energy intensity has a certain influence on the trend of energy consumption, but the effect is limited. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the scheduling of bulk-pickup-delivery vehicles in Shanghai, China. The Shanghai Truck Transportation Corp. operates 3,400 trucks in greater Shanghai. These trucks are used to transport a wide range of products, including items as diverse as biscuits, sweet potatoes, powder, bottles, steel, sand, and coal. About 6,000 to 7,000 orders for transport are received each day at offices scattered in various districts. Trucks are categorized into various types, depending on size and special handling capabilities. Most trucks can carry from five to 10 tons, although there are trucks available with capacity as high as 300 tons. China has established ambitious goals for economic growth that can be attained only if scarce resources are utilized at maximum efficiency. Management Science or Operations Research offers the technology to achieve highly efficient resource utilization, whether those resources are trucks, fuel and other energy sources, food, or any of a whole host of other resources in scarce supply within China.

China's carbon emission trading system (ETS) was officially launched at the end of 2017 to further promote carbon emissions mitigation. In the ETS, the carbon price is the key factor determining whether the emission reduction target can be achieved. The optimal carbon price is the smallest marginal abatement cost that can achieve the emission reduction target. This study simulates the marginal abatement cost curves of different sectors in China's ETS and calculate the optimal carbon price of sector coverage scenarios based on the criteria that involve eight sectors in turn. The results show that the marginal abatement cost decreases with increasing sector involvement. The optimal carbon price to achieve the two intensity targets at the same time is between 345 yuan/ton and 1140 yuan/ton. From the sectoral perspective, the power sector undertakes the largest emission reduction, while the transportation sector is responsible for smaller emission reduction. China's ETS will cause GDP losses from 1.63% to 2.27% compared with the BAU scenario, but it can achieve CO 2 reduction from 9.56% to 10.13%. • Simulate the sectoral marginal abatement cost curves in China. • The optima carbon price to achieve the two intensity goals is at least 345 yuan/ton. • MAC will decrease with increasing sector involvement in the ETS. • The power sector will undertake the largest emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The real options approach is used to assess CCS-EWR investment decisions. • The critical CER price for CCS-EWR is 7.15 CNY/ton higher than that for CCS. • EWR with exemption from water resource fees has a potential investment economy. • The investment feasibility is not optimistic. Carbon dioxide capture and storage combined with enhanced deep saline water recovery (CCS-EWR) is a potential approach to mitigate climate change. However, its investment has been a dilemma due to high costs and various uncertainties. In this study, a trinomial tree modelling-based real options approach is constructed to assess the investment in CCS-EWR retrofitting for direct coal liquefaction in China from the investor perspective. In this approach, the uncertainties in CO 2 prices, capital subsidies, water resource fees, the residual lifetime of direct coal liquefaction plants, electricity prices, CO 2 and freshwater transport distance, and the amount of certified emission reductions (CERs) are considered. The results show that the critical CER price for CCS-EWR retrofits is 7.15 Chinese yuan per ton (CNY/ton) higher than that (141.95 CNY/ton) for CCS retrofits. However, the exemption from water resource fees for freshwater recovered from saline water and a subsidy of 26% of the capital cost are sufficient to eliminate the negative impact of enhanced deep saline water recovery (EWR) on the investment economy of CCS-EWR. In addition, when the residual lifetime is less than 14 years, CCS-EWR projects are still unable to achieve profitability, even with flexible management and decision making; therefore, investors should abandon CCS-EWR investments. On the whole, the investment feasibility for CCS-EWR technology is not optimistic despite access to preferential policies from the government. It is necessary to establish a carbon market with a high and stable CER price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A National Energy Technology model for transport sector is established. • China's intercity passenger transport demand and structure is projected up to 2050. • The impacts of low carbon policy on each intercity mode of transport is evaluated. • Intercity passenger transport could peak its CO 2 emissions at 448.7 MtCO 2 in 2030. • A sustainable development path for intercity passenger transport is proposed. The transportation sector is responsible for a major share of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. There is already great concern about the fast-growing energy demand and carbon emissions from China's transportation sector. This study focuses on intercity passenger transport and aims to simulate its future energy demand and carbon emissions pathway by optimizing its technology portfolio based on a developed C3IAM/NET-Transport model. The energy-saving and carbon emission-reduction potential of countermeasures, such as optimizing the transportation structure, improving energy efficiency and promoting alternative fuels were investigated thoroughly and a sustainable development pathway for vehicle technologies and fuels in China's intercity passenger transport was identified. The model results show that by taking joint countermeasures, intercity passenger transport could save 2515.5 Mtce energy consumption and lead to a cumulative reduction of 8447.4 MtCO 2 between 2015 and 2050. China's intercity passenger transport would peak at the total CO 2 emissions of 448.7 MtCO 2 in 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial decision-makers may wonder about the optimal timing for investing in carbon capture retrofitting in co-firing power plants, faced with uncertain benefits from upcoming China's carbon trading market and potential cost reductions derived from technology innovation. The decision on investment timing relates to the so-called waiting value, considering multiple uncertainties and trade-offs. This article applies a real options-based framework, adapted to deal with the waiting value in the context of multiple uncertainties of carbon market, technical improvements and biomass availability. The problem is solved through an efficient simulation method. The results suggest that the optimal retrofit timing for CCS (carbon capture and storage) in a co-firing CHP will be the year 2033 considering a basic scenario, in which the carbon price is 98 CNY/tonCO 2 (14.5 US$/tonCO 2) in 2025, the growth rate and volatility are 5% and 7% respectively, and technical improvements are expected every six years and result in a cost reduction of 50%. In addition, we examine the effects of different sub-dimensions in the carbon market and technical improvement on anticipating the retrofit timing. The conclusions of this article provide decision-makers with strategies of adjusting the investment timing in response to their different expectations of market and technology developments. Further practical applications require judgments of future trends made by decision-makers and extensive data of specific cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the major carbon dioxide emitter, industrial sector has attracted considerable attention of the whole society on the energy saving and emissions reduction issue. Since the tobacco primary process has the typical characteristics of process industry, and it represents about 80% of the total energy consumption of cigarette production, this paper proposes an integrated model employing the e-p method, which is widely used in the energy consumption analysis of the process industry, to estimate the energy saving and emissions reduction potential of the tobacco primary process. Based on the energy consumption data of the three Chinese cigarette enterprises in 2015, the results show that as to the section energy intensity factor of the tobacco primary process, the changes of the tobacco leaf pre-conditioning section and the cut lamina drying section can lead to 18%–47% and 9%–36% reduction of the unit cut tobacco energy intensity, and as to the production ratio factor, the lower proportion of cut stem can lead to 15%–33% reduction of the unit cut tobacco energy intensity because of the higher energy intensity of the stem process section. In addition, scenario analysis has been used to discover the energy saving and emissions reduction potential by process optimization and products structure upgrade under the premise of the fixed total production volume, the actual production portfolio and process equipment of three enterprises. Finally, the effective measures and policy suggestions to realize the goal of energy saving and emissions reduction for three cigarette enterprises are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate aviation's carbon emissions of the aviation industry, the following steps are vital: accurately quantifying the carbon emission path by considering uncertainty factors, including transportation demand in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period; identifying gaps between this path and emission reduction targets; and providing mitigation measures. Some mitigation measures that can be employed by China's civil aviation industry include the gradual realization of large-scale production of sustainable aviation fuels and transition to 100% sustainable and low-carbon sources of energy. This study identified the key driving factors of carbon emissions by using the Delphi Method and set scenarios that consider uncertainty, such as aviation development and emission reduction policies. A backpropagation neural network and Monte Carlo simulation were used to quantify the carbon emission path. The study results show that China's civil aviation industry can effectively help the country achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. However, to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions goal of global aviation, China needs to reduce its emissions by approximately 82%–91% based on the optimal emission scenario. Thus, under the international net-zero target, China's civil aviation industry will face significant pressure to reduce its emissions. The use of sustainable aviation fuels is the best way to reduce aviation emissions by 2050. Moreover, in addition to the application of sustainable aviation fuel, it will be necessary to develop a new generation of aircraft introducing new materials and upgrading technology, implement additional carbon absorption measures, and make use of carbon trading markets to facilitate China's civil aviation industry's contribution to reduce climate change. • Quantify aviation's carbon emission path considering uncertainty. • Identify the key driving factors of carbon emissions by the Delphi Method. • Set scenarios based on emission-reduction policies and aviation's development. • Back Propagation Neural Network and Monte Carlo simulation are used. • Sustainable aviation fuels may be the best way to reduce emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has adopted a national carbon emissions trading market to promote emission reductions, but until now, overallocation of allowances suffer low carbon prices and thus to unfulfilled emission reduction goals. We report a general equilibrium modeling that indicates the flexible compliance and price adjustment mechanism of the carbon market, along with explores the solution to the oversupply of allowances in the China's national carbon market. We find that, under the current policy, the initial loose allowance allocation decreases the overall carbon price, and simultaneously the total amount of banked carbon allowances reaches 4.880 billion tons in 2030, resulting in the level of carbon price cannot achieve NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) targets. However, by introducing carbon market price adjustment schemes, we observe that the cumulative amount of allowances can effectively reduce, enabling the carbon price rising. Importantly, the amount of the supply of allowances decreases most under the benchmark decrease scenario, which increases the emission reduction pressure of the enterprises from the beginning, leading to the largest economic losses, the price-based adjustment mechanism raises the carbon price to expected level at the minimize economic losses, and the quantity-based adjustment mechanism is more sensitive to policy parameters compared to the price -based adjustment mechanism. These findings offer a promising avenue for selecting cost-effective price adjustment mechanism to improve price mechanism design for national carbon markets., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The policy scenario refers to the flexible mechanism design of the existing China's national ETS, as well as potential adjustment polices to overcome oversupply in the mainstream ETSs. First, the national ETS policy scenario (Current Policy, CP) follows the existing national carbon market policies and only includes the flexible compliance. Second, benchmark value decline scenario (Benchmark Decline, BD) reflects both cap adjustment and flexible compliance. Third quantity-based supply-side adjustment scenario (Quantity-based adjustment, QA) reflects both flexible compliance and price adjustment mechanism, where adjusts carbon prices via flexibly adjusting allowances supply based on the allowance quantity. Fourth, the price-based supply-side adjustment scenario (Price-based adjustment, PA) reflects both flexible compliance and price adjustment mechanism, where adjusts carbon prices via flexibly adjusting allowances supply based on carbon price. The main parameters in the model are shown in Table 2., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Phasing out thermal power plants is vital to combatting climate change. Less attention has been given to provincial-level thermal power plants, which are implementers of the policy of phasing out backward production capacity. To improve energy efficiency and reduce negative environmental impacts, this study proposes a bottom-up cost-optimal model to explore technology-oriented low-carbon development pathways for China's provincial-level thermal power plants. Taking 16 types of thermal power technologies into consideration, this study investigates the impacts of power demand, policy implementation, and technology maturity on energy consumption, pollutant emissions, and carbon emissions of power plants. The results show that an enhanced policy combined with a reduced thermal power demand would peak carbon emissions of the power industry at approximately 4.1 GtCO 2 in 2023. Meanwhile, most of the inefficient coal-fired power technologies should be eliminated by 2030. Carbon capture and storage technology should be gradually promoted in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Jilin after 2025. Energy-saving upgrades on 600 MW and 1000 MW ultra-supercritical technologies should be emphatically carried out in Anhui, Guangdong, and Zhejiang. By 2050, all thermal power will come from ultra-supercritical and other advanced technologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Micra TPS™ (Medtronic) is the first leadless pacemaker listed in China. The best fluoroscopic angle for the intraoperative fixation test is selected according to different implantation sites to reduce the fluoroscopy duration and radiation dose, and the test is based on the early safety and effectiveness of the device after implantation. A total of 110 patients who underwent Micra TPS™ implantation were selected. Eighty patients were in group A, and 30 patients were in group B. Under the guidance of the conclusions from group A, the fluoroscopy duration, radiation dose and number of fluoroscopic positions of the best fluoroscopic angle of the fixation test according to different positions of the implanted interventricular septum were compared. In 85.0% of the group A implants, these angles were based on the right interior oblique (RAO) angle, with 48.5% cranial (CRA) and 29.4% caudal (CAU) angles. The angle of the tilting head side of the RAO angle was prioritized in group B, and referring to the average angle data, the average fluoroscopy duration for finding the best angle of fixation test was 1.7 ± 0.6 vs. 3.2 ± 1.8 min (P < 0.001), the average radiation dose was 270.4 ± 56.3 vs. 338.1 ± 112.9 mGy (P = 0.002), and the average number of fluoroscopic positions was 2.2 ± 0.6 vs. 4.2 ± 2.1 (P < 0.001), which was significantly less than that in group A. This study found that there was regularity in the fluoroscopic angle for the fixation test during Micra TPS™ operation.Level of Evidence Level 3, local nonrandom sample., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF), for which age is an independent risk factor, is the most common persistent arrhythmia. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1-induced protein (MCPIP), a transcription factor that induces a series of inflammation and cell death procedures, has been indicated to cause cardiomyocyte death in ischemic cardiomyopathy. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between age-related AF and MCPIP., Methods: A total of 1,084 participants were included in this study, including 542 AF patients and 542 non-AF controls. Their medical histories were collected and analyzed. Moreover, blood samples were collected, and ELISA tests for expression of the inflammatory factor MCPIP and the fibrosis biomarkers pro-collagen type III N-terminal peptide (PIIINP) and type I collagen C-terminal telopeptide (ICTP) were conducted. Finally, a correlation analysis of these inflammatory factors and biomarkers was performed based on the ELISA results., Results: We compared the echocardiography results of AF patients and found that the left ventricular ejection fraction and left atrial appendage velocity decreased with age (p < 0.05). Moreover, ELISA analysis of these samples showed that the expression of MCPIP was the highest in elderly patients with AF (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference in expression between adult AF patients and elderly controls (p > 0.05). Finally, the correlation analysis demonstrated that the expressions of MCPIP, PIIINP, and ICTP were positively correlated in the elderly AF patient group, the adult AF group, and the elderly control group (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: MCPIP expression was higher in age-related AF than in the other patient groups and it was associated with AF-induced fibrosis., (© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by left ventricular enlargement, systolic dysfunction, and heart failure. Both genetic and non-genetic factors have been linked to DCM pathogenesis. Familial DCM (FDCM) accounts for 20%-50% of all DCM cases, highlighting the importance of genetics in pathogenesis. Indeed, more than 40 DCM-associated genes have been identified, including the gene encoding cardiac troponin T type-2 (TNNT2). We examined polymorphisms of the TNNT2 gene in idiopathic DCM (IDCM) patients of Kazak and Han ethnicity compared with healthy Kazak and Han controls., Material and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 180 patients with IDCM (90 Kazak and 90 Han), and 180 healthy controls (90 Kazak and 90 Han). PCR was used to amplify 15 exons and nearby introns of the TNNT2 gene. The amplified products were sequenced and compared to the standard sequence in PubMed by BLAST and CHROMAS software, to identify mutation sites., Results: Results from Kazak and Han IDCM patients were complied for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium analysis. There was a significant difference in the genotype distribution (χ2=6.67, P=0.015) and allele frequency (χ2=5.71, P=0.017) between Kazaks with IDCM and Kazak controls of SNP rs3729547. There was also a difference in the genotype distribution (χ2=6.62, P=0.036) and allele frequency (χ2=4.91, P=0.018) between Han with IDCM and Han controls. The TNNT2 gene polymorphism loci rs3729547 may be associated with the IDCM onset in Kazak and Han patients (OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.233~5.068)., Conclusions: The TNNT2 polymorphisms might play an important role in susceptibility to DCM in Xinjiang Kazak and Han patients.

Objective: To investigate the association between the KCNE1 gene G38S and the KCNE4 gene E145D and atrial fibrillation in Uygur and Han populations living in Xinjiang., Methods: KCNE1 gene G38S and the KCNE4 gene E145D genotype and frequency were determined using PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 488 atrial fibrillation patients (237 Uygur and 251 Han residents) and 488 age-and-gender matched controls (237 Uygur and 251 Han residents)., Results: Genotype and allele frequency of KCNE1 gene G38S were similar between atrial fibrillation group and control group in the Han population (P = 0.556, P = 0.946). In the Uygur population, there was a statistical difference between atrial fibrillation group and control group (P = 0.018, P = 0.003). Logistic regression analysis revealed the KCNE1 38 G was one of the independent risk factors for atrial fibrillation in the Uygur population (OR = 1.634, 95%CI: 1.192-2.240, P = 0.002). The KCNE4 gene E145D, genotype and allele frequency were significantly different between atrial fibrillation group and control group in the Uygur population and Han population (P = 0.041, P = 0.015;P = 0.032, P = 0.013) . Logistic regression analysis revealed the KCNE4 145D was one of the independent risk factors for atrial fibrillation in the Uygur population and Han population (OR = 1.636, 95%CI:1.173-2.281, P = 0.004; OR = 1.491, 95%CI:1.076-2.065, P = 0.016) ., Conclusions: KCNE1 G38S is not associated with atrial fibrillation in the Han population while the KCNE1 G38S is associated with atrial fibrillation in the Uygur population. KCNE4 gene E145D is associated with atrial fibrillation in both Uygur population and Han population.

Experimental evidence suggesting that heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) gene or associated genes are responsible for the pathophysiology of hypertension is accumulating. In this study, we focused on five polymorphisms in three genes (HSPA1A, HSPA1B, and HSPA1L) of Hsp70 family to explore the genetic contribution, alone and in combination, of these polymorphisms to essential hypertension risk in a Uygur population. Genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP and direct sequencing techniques. Data were analyzed using haplotype and multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) methods. Genotype distributions of all the polymorphisms satisfied the Hardy-Weinberg proportions in cases and controls. Statistical significance was only observed in the genotype (P = 0.0028) and (P = 0.0146) allele distributions of -110A/C polymorphism, with the -110C allele conferring a 1.45- and 2.83-fold of relative risk, assuming the additive and recessive models, respectively, and in 1267A/G genotype distribution (P = 0.0106) with the 1267G allele conferring a 44% reduced risk. The interaction information analysis indicated that polymorphisms -110A/C and 1267A/G had a strong synergistic effect, while polymorphisms 2074G/C and 2437T/C had a moderate synergistic effect. Haplotype analyses further strengthened the interaction information. Using the haplotype H(1) as a reference, haplotype H(4) had a 40% reduced risk, while haplotypes H(5) and H(8) had a significantly 5.00- and 3.75-fold increased risk for essential hypertension, respectively. Taken together, our results supported strong genetic interaction of the studied polymorphisms with the risk of having essential hypertension in Uygur ethnicity. Functional studies are warranted to confirm or refute these findings. This is the first study to evaluate the genetic interaction information of the Hsp70 in Uygur ethnicity, which represents one of the major nationalities in China with high homogeneity and unique lifestyles. Moreover, we employed the haplotype and MDR methods to explore the potential interaction of Hsp70 genetic polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in Uygur.

Background: There are significant variations in the geographical distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes throughout the world, and some genotypes are associated with different clinical outcomes. Eight genotypes of human HBV (designated A-H) have been reported. The present study was designed to examine the distribution of HBV genotypes among patients at various stages of chronic type B liver disease in Yunnan Province, China, and to explore its significance and the relationship of HBV genotype with gender and age, clinical spectrum of chronic HBV infection, and viral replicative activity., Methods: Serum samples from 126 patients with chronic HBV infection from Yunnan Province, including 26 chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers (ASC), 61 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (21 mild, 30 moderate and 10 severe), 20 patients with chronic fulminant hepatic failure (CFHF), 12 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) and 7 patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed using reverse dot blot (RDB) methodology, which is based on the reverse hybridization principle for HBV genotyping. The relations of HBV genotype with gender and age, clinical patterns, and serological data of the patients were analyzed., Results: In this series, genotypes A, B, C, and D were found. 38.1% patients (48/126) belonged to B, 54.8% (69/126) to C, 0.8% (1/126) to D, 1.6% (2/126) to a mixture of B and C, and 1.6% (2/126) to a mixture of A and C. 3.2% patients (4/126) had unknown genotypes. No other genotypes (E, F, G, and H) were found. Genotypes B and C were predominant. There was a statistically significant difference in the distributions of genotypes C and B (chi(2)=7.04, P=0.008), and C was the dominant genotype in all patient categories. The rate of genotype B in the mild CHB group was significantly higher than that in the moderate and severe groups (chi(2)=12.16, P=0.0001; X2=11.98, P=0.001, respectively), the ASC group (chi(2)=5.46, P=0.02), the CFHF group (chi(2)=5.53, P=0.019), and the LC/HCC group (chi(2)=12.13, P=0.001). The rate of genotype C in the LC/HCC group and the severe CHB group were significantly higher than that in the mild group (chi(2)=9.95, P=0.002; chi(2)=8.78, P=0.003, respectively). HBV DNA positivity and HBeAg positivity were higher in genotype C than in genotype B (chi(2)=9.81, P=0.002; chi(2)=3.85, P=0.05, respectively). The prevalence of genotype C showed an increasing trend in lowest-, middle- and highest-level groups of HBV replication (25.0%, 70.0%, and 55.6%, respectively); in contrast, the prevalence of genotype B showed an opposite trend in the same order (62.5%, 30.0%, and 37.0%, respectively). The rate of genotype C in the highest-level group of HBV replication was higher than genotype B (chi(2)=7.45, P=0.006). The rate of genotype C in the over-30 age group was higher than that in the below-30 age group (chi(2)=3.7, P=0.05). There was no difference between the sexes (P>0.05). More severe liver damage was found in genotype C than in genotype B (P<0.05)., Conclusions: The predominant HBV genotypes in chronic HBV-infected patients are B and C, and C is the most prevalent genotype in Yunnan Province, China. HBV genotype C is associated with the development of more severe liver disease and a higher level of HBV viral replication, and genotype B has a relatively good progress.

Objective: To study the physiological characteristics and cardiac electrophysiology of the "desert people" in Taklimakan Desert, an isolated population of Uygurs., Methods: Two hundred and twenty-four out of the 1030 "desert people", 133 males aged 37.8 +/- 17.5 (15-99) and 91 females aged 34.1 +/- 12.1 (27-85), underwent measurement of height, body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Twelve-lead resting electrocardiogram was obtained and Minnesota coding was conducted. 150 Kariya Uygurs, 76 males aged 50.7 +/- 15.6 (27-85) and 75 females aged 46.6 +/- 11.7 (24-69) were used as controls., Results: The abnormal Minnesota coding rate in the "desert people" as a whole was 46.0%, significantly higher than that of the controls (35.1%, P < 0.05). In the "desert people", the abnormal Minnesota coding rate was 54.9% in the males, significantly higher than that in the females (33.0%, P < 0.05). In the control group, the abnormal coding rate was 28.0% in the females and 42.1% in the males. The ECG high left R amplitude rate (code 3-1, 3-3) of the "desert people" as a whole was 32.6%, significantly higher than that of the controls (12.6%, P < 0.001). Within the "desert people" group, the ECG high left R amplitude rate of the females was 19.8%, significantly lower than that of the males (41.2%, P < 0.005). Within the control group, the ECG high left R amplitude rate of the females was 10.7%, not significantly different from that of the males (14.5%, P > 0.5). The hypertension rate of the "desert people" was 7.6%, significantly lower than that of the controls (36.4%, P < 0.005). The hypertension rate of the "desert people" coded as with left high R amplitude was 12.2%, significantly lower than that of the controls coded as with left high R amplitude (41.6%, P < 0.005). The overweight and obesity rate of the "desert people" was 9.6%, significantly lower than that of the controls (23%, P < 0.005). The arrhythmia (8-1 - 8-8) rate of the "desert people" was 8.92%, not significantly different from that of the controls (6.62%, P > 0.05). The incidence of conduction block (7-1 - 7-8) of the "desert people" was 3.12%, not significantly different from that of the controls (2.64%, P > 0.05)., Conclusion: The higher incidence of ECG high left R amplitudes and low prevalence of hypertension in the "desert people" suggest that the high left R amplitude in "Desert people" may be related to their thin chest wall, low BMI, and physiological left ventricular hypertrophy. The "desert people" have more physical work, and less stress and pollution. They have low incidence of congenital heart disease, rheumatic heart disease and hypertension. All these may be associated with a low incidence of arrhythmia.