A low-carbon energy transition is permeating many industrialized countries due to the overuse of fossil fuels and the climate change. Some countries stress the hydrogen energy in optimizing their ...energy structures. This article examines both the markets and the policies of the hydrogen industry in the World's Top 4 largest economies. To make the comparative analysis more logical, a novel conceptual model for energy transition -- the institution-economics-technology-behavior framework -- has been adopted to make a multi-dimensional discussion. The results show that: (1) From the perspective of strategic intention, developing hydrogen energy is conductive to the energy transition. (2) From the horizontal comparison, each country has its own advantages, however, the main driving factors are different. (3) From the vertical comparison, the hydrogen energy development in each country is still in the stage of quantitative change, and the inflection point of qualitative change has not been reached yet.
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•A novel conceptual model -- IETB framework -- is adopted.•Hydrogen energy serves three functions in the energy transition.•The World's Top 4 largest economies are used for comparative analysis.•Each country has different advantages of developing its own hydrogen energy.•Qualitative inflection point of hydrogen energy development has not yet reached.
China is committed to seeing its peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and then its carbon neutrality before 2060, which further highlights the importance of China's energy transition. On the ...basis of clarifying the logic of analysis, this paper clearly defines the objectives of both the low-carbon pathway and the green pathway, scientifically identifies the incentives when choosing the green & low-carbon pathway in China's energy transition, tentatively constructs an “Incentive-Driven Analysis Model for Green & Low-carbon Transition”, and quantitatively studies the driving effects of five-dimensional incentives. The econometric methodology is applied for empirical analysis using data from 2000 to 2019 for some reason, and the variable values are measured. The results show that: (1) In terms of structure, the institutional incentives are stronger than others, while the “Dual Circulation” incentives are becoming more and more important; (2) In terms of mode, judged by the vector characteristics, obvious differences in “process continuity” and “functional consistency” can be seen among different incentives; (3) In terms of effect, even the same driving force will have different functional attributes in different stages, especially in the “gear shift period” and the “gear shift acceleration period”. The main contributions can be summarized as follows: Theoretically, the “low carbon transition” and the “green transition” are clearly distinguished, while a framework with five dimensions for energy transition analysis is introduced for the first time. Practically, the effectiveness of different incentives for given periods is clearly explained from the perspectives of direction, intensity and timeliness, which provides reference for government decision-making.
•A novel analysis framework with five-dimensional incentives is built.•Driving forces are analyzed by econometric methodology.•Incentive-Driven Analysis Model for Green & Low-carbon Transition is constructed.•Empirical analysis for China's energy transition is studies within two different periods.
Energy security is so important especially when green energy choice is urgently in need. With a series of environmental pollution issues caused by burning fossil fuels, China will change in the ...future in responding to the need of shifting from fossil fuels to green energy. Hydropower resource is abundant with a great developing potential in China, especially the hydropower in the Yangtze River Basin plays a key role in the adjustment of China's energy structure. However, there are many obstacles to its development, including accommodation & consumption problem, environmental pollution & climate change problem, immigration issue etc. China has halted the development of the majority of small and medium hydropower projects, since the hydropower in the Yangtze River Basin also has many disadvantages on its own. This paper summarizes the current situation of the hydropower industry in the Yangtze River Basin, and makes a comprehensive discussion on its development by using Externality Feature Analysis and SWOT Analysis. A series of development proposals from the aspects of institutional, technical, commercial and political are made to help make the hydropower be a better green energy choice, realize the healthy and sustainable development of the hydropower industry in the Yangtze River Basin, and ensure the smooth progress of energy structure adjustment in China.
•The focus of China's hydropower, the Yangtze River Basin, is facing a severe obstacle, water spillage.•Sector situation and policy environment of the hydropower is discussed in China.•We analyze the bilateral effects between hydropower and society, namely Externality analysis & SWOT analysis.•Countermeasures for the sustainable development of hydropower are proposed.
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), as a carbon emission reduction technology, is an important way for China to achieve the goal of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”. Therefore, it ...is crucial to explore how to diffuse CCUS technology. Under the guidance of considering the carbon trading mechanism, this paper establishes a tripartite evolutionary game model of thermal power enterprises-government-public, discusses the evolutionary stability of each stakeholder and the dynamic evolution process of the system; then the simulation parameters are determined by the optimal power generation decision-making model based on Gounod's equilibrium; finally, the system dynamics (SD) model based on the evolutionary game is used for the simulation of the system's evolution paths, and the sensitivity analyses of the important parameters are carried out. The conclusions of the study are as follows: (1) Currently, the diffusion of CCUS technology in China is in the development stage, corresponding to the system equilibrium state of {investment, no incentives, no participation}, i.e., investment by thermal power generating enterprises, no incentives from the government, and no participation from the public. (2) The carbon trading market has guidance for the deployment of CCUS technology, and an appropriate reduction of carbon allowances and an increase in the unit price of carbon trading can stimulate the willingness of thermal power enterprises to invest in CCUS technology. (3) The choice of equilibrium strategy for thermal power enterprises is influenced by parameters and other stakeholders' initial strategies. Lower investment costs, higher carton emission reduction efficiency, moderate increases in penalties and subsidies, as well as a higher probability of government incentives and public participation in monitoring will increase the probability of thermal power enterprises investing in CCUS technology, and facilitate the evolution of the developmental stage {Investment, No incentive, No participation} to the ideal stage {Investment, Incentive, Participation}.
One purpose of the reformation of electric power system in China is to enable the power system to absorb a higher proportion of renewable energy. Currently, there are still such problems for China's ...renewable energy as high cost price, poor power regulating ability and insufficient consumptive space. As an important means of developing renewable energy power generation, distributed generation becomes a highlight in this reformation of electric power system. Under the background of reformation in power system, we describe the current overall market situation of distributed generation and the situation of distributed photovoltaic generation in China and further analyze the future policy environment of distributed generation. At the same time, we also analyze the system, technical and economic obstacles in the development of distributed generation. Market designs are made on various aspects like the objective principle, market types (spot market, futures market, financial market, ancillary service market and retail market) and transaction modes (bilateral contract, multilateral transaction platform and power pool). We also build institutional arrangement for smooth transition mechanism, problem-solving mechanism, independent accounting mechanism in power transition and distribution, full acquisition mechanism and Renewable Portfolio Standard. Discussions on the operation mode for the distributed generation are also shown in this paper based on the policies, regulations of the reformation and technical condition (micro-grid). Through our research, we finally put forward five policy proposals to provide support to the development of distributed generation during the reformation.
Summary
With the rapid development of China's economy in the recent years, the gap between energy supply and demand has been gradually enlarged. To solve the problem of insufficient reserves of ...natural gas, greenhouse effect, and safety of coal mines, coalbed methane (CBM) is considered as an effective substitute. First of all, CBM industry status is introduced, mainly including resource endowment, development status, technical conditions, and market environment. Then, the policy environment of CBM in China was summarized into 6 aspects: price policy, tax policy, financial subsidy policy, resource management policy, foreign cooperation policy, and other policies. Thirdly, through Politics, Economics, Society, and Technology analysis, Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, Politics, Economics, Society, and Technology‐Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, and Comparative Analysis, the influence of political factors, economic factors, social factors, and technological factors on CBM industry is analyzed, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of CBM development are pointed out. Fourth, through the above analysis, development proposal is given from 3 aspects which include policy support, technical support, and market support. Finally, through the analysis of the industry, the related conclusions and the prospect of China's CBM are put forward.
First of all, coalbed methane (CBM) industry status is introduced, mainly including resource endowment, development status, technical conditions, and market environment. Then, the policy environment of CBM in China, summarized into 6 aspects: price policy, tax policy, financial subsidy policy, resource management policy, foreign cooperation policy, and other policies, is reviewed. Thirdly, through Politics, Economics, Society, and Technology analysis, Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, Politics, Economics, Society, and Technology‐Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats analysis, and comparative analysis, the influence of political factors, economic factors, social factors, and technological factors on CBM industry is analyzed, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of CBM development are pointed out. Fourth, through the above analysis, development proposal is given from 3 aspects of policy support, technical support, and market support. Finally, through the analysis of the industry, the related conclusions and the prospect of China's CBM are put forward.
Summary
Due to the gradual depletion of fossil energy and the climate change, many industrialized countries are pursuing a sustainable energy transition, however they choose different pathways. There ...are such issues on the process of energy transition as the high renewable energy cost and the increase of carbon emissions. In order to ensure the smooth process of energy transition, governments need to draw energy development experience from each other to jointly promote the global energy transition. At the beginning, the recent situations from both energy economy and policy are described in this article with respect to some typical industrialized countries (the G7 countries and China). And then to make comparative analysis more logical, a novel conceptual model ‐ Institution‐Economy‐Technology‐Behavior framework is adopted. Based on this new model, this article makes a comprehensive analysis and discussion on the energy transition of each country. The common points and the differences of energy transition in different countries are summarized to grasp the driven forces of energy transition. And a series of development proposals from the aspects of system, economy, technology and behavior are made to overcome the obstacles of energy transition, ensure the smooth progress of energy transition, and achieve sustainable development.
A novel conceptual model ‐ Institution‐Economy‐Technology‐Behavior framework is adopted to analyze the energy transition. And the common points and the differences of energy transition in different countries are summarized to grasp the driven forces of energy transition. In order to solve many obstacles in energy transition, it is necessary for countries to draw experience from each other to jointly promote the energy transition.
Different from the expectations of energy development in other industrialized countries, China is pursuing an orderly-synergistic energy transition. The necessity and effect of orderliness-synergy in ...the sustainable development of China’s power generation industry during the transition period is focused in this paper. The orderly-synergistic development process can be regarded as the game of interest balance for both the clean energy power generation enterprises and the thermal power generation ones. Hence evolutionary game method with six Assumptions, basic model and normative analysis is adopted. And then to explain the process more scientifically, the numerical simulation with scenario analysis is used to study two types of power generation enterprises. Three important conclusions are drawn: (1) when two types of power generation enterprises make the “same direction” decision at the same time, the population stability can be formed within the industry; (2) the revenues of both clean power generation enterprises and thermal power generation enterprises have shown a positive correlation with adopting active strategies; (3) when the power generation industry tends to the policy orientation, the orderly-synergistic benefits will be smaller, however, when the power generation industry tends to the market orientation, the orderly-synergistic benefits will be greater. And then some recommendations are put forward.
•The evolutionary game method is used for the orderly-synergistic development of power generation industry.•This method is proposed for the necessity and effect of orderliness-synergy in terms of China’s power generation industry.•Two types of power generation enterprises are analyzed by the numerical simulation with scenario analysis.•Conclusion section considers the policy orientation problem and market orientation problem.
The progressive cooperation among countries in terms of energy transition has been strongly boosted under the background of global energy security and environmental protection. China also has strong ...aspirations to give impetus to the international cooperation framework for sustainable energy transition. Such a framework, however, is ambiguous so far, especially for China. Therefore, this paper summarizes the current cooperation and the policy environment of China with other countries in regard to the energy transition scheme, and then uses SWOT approach to study the strategic positioning of China’s international cooperation for energy transition. The cooperation framework is designed according to the strategic analysis. The results show that: (1) China’s main experience in promoting the international cooperation of energy transition comes from the different positioning of early roles and the continuous improvement of policies. (2) The strategic analysis reveals a fact that the international cooperation of energy transition advocated by China is attractive but challenging. (3) The main modules of the cooperation mechanism roughly consist of the negotiation mechanism, the interest coordination mechanism, the legal protection mechanism, and the talent exchange mechanism.
•International cooperation is an important way for global energy transition.•Current situation & policy environment of China’s cooperation are discussed.•China has a unique position in international cooperation.•An international cooperation mechanism for the energy transition are proposed.
Many industrialized countries are pursuing energy transition, but their focuses are different. It is necessary and realistic for the Chinese government to scientifically define the ...Orderliness-Synergy attribute during the energy transition period, and emphatically analyze the interaction among sub-industries. Yangtze River Delta economic zone, the strongest economic center in comprehensive strength of China, plays an exemplary role in the energy transition. This paper focuses on the interaction between the evolution of electric power industry and the development of the three industries during the transition period, initially forms the theoretical analysis framework of external Orderliness-Synergy by making use of some advanced theories in different disciplines, constructs the Orderliness Measurement Model and the Synergy Measurement Model based on the theoretical framework, and determines an index system of order parameters to carry out empirical analysis on the Yangtze River Delta region. At the same time, the power function prediction method is used to make a short-term prediction of the orderliness-synergy evolution of electric power industry and the three industries in the Yangtze River Delta. The results show that: (1) From the perspective of orderliness-synergy among industries, the electric power industry in the Yangtze River Delta region is still in a serious misalignment state during development and evolution; (2) the Orderliness of both the electric power industry and the three industries in the Yangtze River Delta region is constantly adjusting and evolving towards a more rational direction; (3) the external Orderliness-Synergy among the industrial system is realized on the premise of the orderliness of each sub-industry not only, but also affects the orderliness of each sub-industry by feedback. The results will be intended to provide technical support for system construction, policy formulation, and regulatory implementation in the domain of energy sustainable transition.
•This is the first time to study the Orderliness-Synergy of the electric power industry development in the transition period from both the theoretical and the empirical.•Production factor, industrial scale, production efficiency and industrial structure are all direct factors that affect the orderly development of electric power industry.•The synergy between the electric power industry and the three industries has a positive correlation with the orderliness of each sub-industry system.•The orderliness-synergy of electric power industry in the Yangtze River Delta region is improving..
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