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[Objective] This study was aimed to reveal the spatio-temporal characteristics of supply-demand balance of ecosystem services, and further to explore the dual effects and influencing mechanisms of land use change on the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services. [Methods] Taking the middle reaches of the Yangtze River as the research area and seleting 2000— 2018 as the research period, the quantitative matrix of supply-demand of ecosystem services was employed to analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics of the supply-demand balance of ecosystem service, and the ecological contribution rate of land use change was introduced to analyze the influencing mechanisms of land use change on the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services. [Results] (1) During the study period, the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River had been continuously deteriorating, which was mainly caused by the large-scale expansion of construction land and the large-scale reduction of cultivated land and forest land, resulting in the decrease of supply capacity and the increase of consumption demand of ecosystem services. (2) The relationship between different supply of ecosystem services had changed from trade-off to synergy in time scale, and the synergy between different demand and supply-demand balance of ecosystem services had been further enhanced on the time scale, but the trade-off or synergy between supply, demand, and supply-demand balance was highly heterogeneous on the spatial scale. (3) Land use change in the MRYR had dual effects on the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services, and the deterioration effect was significantly larger than the improvement effect, but the types of land use change that cause the improvement and deterioration of supply-demand of ecosystem services and their sub-services had temporal heterogeneity. [Conclusion] Promote types of land use change that could improve the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services; promote types of land use change that are compatible with key ecosystem services; and curb types of land use change that would worsen the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services, in order to increase the sustainability of ecosystem services and improve the quality of the ecological environment.

Coal burning is a major contributor to air pollution. Selecting the optimal coal alternative path with economic feasibility and maximum environmental benefits is an important policy choice to mitigate air pollution. It could provide a basis for the design of energy transition policies and the green development of coal resource-based cities. This study designed a coal substitution policy based on the multi-objective optimization model, explored the optimal coal substitution path in coal resource-based cities with the goal of minimizing the costs and maximizing the benefits of coal substitution, and assessed the maximum emission reduction potential of air pollutants. The results show that: (1) by 2025, coal consumption in the study area must be reduced to 85%. The optimal coal substitution path is 90.00% coal-to-electricity and 10.00% coal-to-gas for civil emission sources and 83.94% coal-to-electricity and 16.06% coal-to-gas for industrial boiler emission sources. (2) by 2030, coal consumption must be reduced to 75%. The optimal coal substitution path is 90.00% coal-to-electricity and 10.00% coal-to-gas for civil sources and 78.80% coal-to-electricity and 21.20% coal-to-gas for industrial boiler sources. (3) by implementing the coal substitution policy, emissions of six key air pollutants such as SO2, NOX, CO, VOCs, PM10, and PM2.5 could decrease significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the diffusion of remediation technologies is an attractive solution to environmental protection and urban sustainability challenges. To better understand technology diffusion, we reviewed the engineering practices of cement kiln co-processing (CKC) of contaminated soil and obtained diffusion parameters using the Bass model in three provinces of China. Our results show that CKC has been adopted for the disposal of multiple contaminants and that the optimal feed rate of contaminated soil is 4–5%. The obtained diffusion parameters can be used to analyze and predict CKC diffusion. Driving factors analysis suggest that CKC diffusion is regulation-driven and obeys the S-curve pattern. Policies at the national level shape the basic pattern of the diffusion curve, while local policies, market scales, and contaminant types produce variations in diffusion rates across provinces. Results also reveal that the co-processing quota management on contaminated soil has little impact on CKC adoption. This study provides insights into contaminated soil remediation technology diffusion and the effectiveness of environmental policy implementation at home and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]