This study evaluates the PM2.5 pollution-related health impacts on the national and provincial economy of China using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and the latest nonlinear ...exposure–response functions. Results show that the health and economic impacts may be substantial in provinces with a high PM2.5 concentration. In the WoPol scenario without PM2.5 pollution control policy, we estimate that China experiences a 2.00% GDP loss and 25.2 billion USD in health expenditure from PM2.5 pollution in 2030. In contrast, with control policy in the WPol scenario, a control investment of 101.8 billion USD (0.79% of GDP) and a gain of 1.17% of China’s GDP from improving PM2.5 pollution are projected. At the provincial level, GDP loss in 2030 in the WoPol scenario is high in Tianjin (3.08%), Shanghai (2.98%), Henan (2.32%), Beijing (2.75%), and Hebei (2.60%) and the top five provinces with the highest additional health expenditure are Henan, Sichuan, Shandong, Hebei, and Jiangsu. Controlling PM2.5 pollution could bring positive benefits in two-thirds of provinces. Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing, Henan, Jiangsu, and Hebei experience most benefits from PM2.5 pollution control as a result of a higher PM2.5 pollution and dense population distribution. Conversely, the control investment is higher than GDP gain in some underdeveloped provinces, such as Ningxia, Guizhou, Shanxi, Gansu, and Yunnan.
The grey water footprint (GWF) can be used to connect wastewater quality and quantity, making it a powerful tool for policy makers and those responsible for managing wastewater systems. As a ...supplementary to existing GWF research, this study explores the GWF evolution of eight economic regions in China by taking into consideration the GWF of livestock feeding. In addition, we use the logarithmic mean division index method to study the background driving forces of GWF in primary industry for eight economic regions. Results show that the overall GWF in China fluctuates from 6082 billion m
3
to 6238 billion m
3
between the years 2003 and 2015. Primary industry contributes most to the GWF because of livestock feeding, particularly for the northwest economic region, accounting for 84.81% in 2015. The southwest economic region has the highest total GWF, and east coast region has the lowest total GWF. An analysis of driving forces shows that economic scale and industrial structure are the driving forces that best explain the GWF for the East coast, middle of Yellow River, Northwest, and Southwest economic regions. The effects of economic scale and pollution producing intensity are driving the GWF in the Northeast Regions. For the North coast and middle Yangtze River Regions, economic scale, industrial structure, and pollution producing intensity are driving forces for GWF. While for the South coast region, population is an important contributor apart from economic scale and industrial structure. Policy implications from perspective of the agriculture GWF and endowment of different regions were finally discussed.
With fast development and urbanization, Chinese cities are facing several challenges including issues of environmental pollution, climate change, resource depletion and landfills shortage. Waste ...recycling is one effective way to respond these challenges. Under such a situation, this paper aims to evaluate energy saving and carbon reduction potential of recycling wastes by taking Shanghai, the biggest city in China, as a case study. Results show that 8.7 Mt standard coal (tce) and 16.81 Mt CO2 could be reduced under current recycling system in Shanghai. And recycling of waste steel and nonferrous metals were the two dominant contributors, accounting for about 44% and 42% of energy saving, and 60% and 33% of CO2 reduction, respectively. If the recycling rates of main recyclable wastes were improved to 100%, additional 6.44 Mt energy and 10.02 Mt CO2 could be further saved, mainly from recycling waste glass, waste plastic and waste metals. Adoption of RPF (Refuse Plastic & paper Fuel) could further contribute to 1.24 Mt energy saving and 2.67 Mt CO2 reduction. Finally, policy implications on establishing a mature recycling system and promoting RPF technologies are discussed, in which the potential on reducing total energy consumption and CO2 emission of Shanghai can reach 6.6% and 4.9%, respectively.
Industrial parks have become the effective strategies for government to promote sustainable economic development due to the following advantages: shared infrastructure and concentrated industrial ...activities within planned areas. However, due to intensive energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels, industrial parks have become the main areas for greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is critical to quantify their carbon footprints so that appropriate emission reduction policies can be raised. The objective of this paper is to seek an appropriate method on evaluating the carbon footprint of one industrial park. The tiered hybrid LCA method was selected due to its advantages over other methods. Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone (SETDZ), a typical comprehensive industrial park in China, was chosen as a case study park. The results show that the total life cycle carbon footprint of SETDZ was 15.29Mt, including 6.81Mt onsite (direct) carbon footprint, 8.47Mt upstream carbon footprint, and only 3201t downstream carbon footprint. Analysis from industrial sector perspectives shows that chemical industry and manufacture of general purpose machinery and special purposes machinery sector were the two largest sectors for life cycle carbon footprint. Such a sector analysis may be useful for investigation of appropriate emission reduction policies.
► A hybrid LCA model was employed to calculate industrial park carbon footprint. ► A case study on SETDZ is done. ► Life cycle carbon footprint of SETDZ is 15.29Mt. ► Upstream and onsite carbon footprints account for 55.40% and 44.57%, respectively. ► Chemical industry and machinery manufacturing sectors are the two largest sectors.
High-entropy perovskite thin films, as the prototypical representative of the high-entropy oxides with novel electrical and magnetic features, have recently attracted great attention. Here, we ...reported the electronic structure and charge transport properties of sol-gel-derived high-entropy Ba(Zr0.2Sn0.2Ti0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2)O3 thin films annealed at various temperatures. By means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and absorption spectrum, it is found that the conduction-band-minimum shifts downward and the valence-band-maximum shifts upward with the increase of annealing temperature, leading to the narrowed band gap. Electrical resistance measurements confirmed a semiconductor-like behavior for all the thin films. Two charge transport mechanisms, i.e., the thermally-activated transport mechanism at high temperatures and the activation-less transport mechanism at low temperatures, are identified by a self-consistent analysis method. These findings provide a critical insight into the electronic band structure and charge transport behavior of Ba(Zr0.2Sn0.2Ti0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2)O3, validating it as a compelling high-entropy oxide material for future electronic/energy-related technologies.
Both air pollutant and carbon emissions are serious problems in China, particularly the economic and pollution intensive urban agglomerations. Therefore, this paper selected the most severely ...polluted Jing-Jin-Ji region (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei urban clusters) to study the potential of mitigating both carbon and air pollutant emission. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model was applied and six scenarios were constructed by considering policies of environmental tax and renewable energy. Business-as-usual (BaU) scenario assumed no tax and fixed renewable energy to 2002 level, whereas other scenarios assumed that intensified renewable energy (RE) and tax on sulfur dioxide (SO2) (TAX1 and TAX2) were implemented either alone or combined. The results indicated that both RE and SO2 tax could contribute to regional low-carbon development and air pollutant reduction, and the reduction is about 10–40% depending on scenarios. However, Renewable energy is always more effective in reducing CO2 and air pollutant emissions than TAX1 but less effective than TAX2 for Hebei. From the sectoral perspective, power sector would exhibit both the largest emissions and reduction potentials in all three Cities, accounting for about 21%, 31% and 28% of total CO2 emissions respectively for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, in 2020. Considering different policies, it is more effective for Hebei to apply renewable energy to reduce its power sector emissions in the long term, and tax policy is more effective for emission reduction from other sectors in Tianjin. Further analysis on the economic impact of mitigation policy revealed that Tianjin and Beijing would suffer relatively greater negative impacts than Hebei in terms of loss in total GDP, while developing renewable energy could help to reduce such negative impacts. It is suggested that the policymakers need to take into accounts the regional economic situation and natural resource potential when they formulate low-carbon policies.
•SO2 tax and renewable energy impact on air pollutants and CO2 reduction are revealed.•We use IMED/CGE model to evaluate economic impact of CO2 and air pollution mitigation.•Tax and renewable energy could reduce carbon and pollutants emission in this area.•We quantified the sectoral contribution to carbon and pollutants emission reduction.
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management and recycling has become an emerging issue in developing countries. Shanghai, the largest megacity in China, is well-known nationwide due to leading China’s MSW ...separation and recycling. Therefore, this paper introduces the Shanghai mode for MSW management and its current situation to enrich existing MSW management studies. Results show that the total generation volume of MSW and amount of MSW generation per capita were 9.00 million tons and 372.16 kg in 2017, increased approximately eight-fold and four-fold compared with the data in 1978, respectively. The MSW treatment rate reached 100% since 2014, with incineration rate increased to 48.56% in 2017. The cost of MSW management after implementing MSW sorting regulation is increased to 985 CNY/ton, including 390 CNY/ton of MSW sorting cost. Then three key features and innovative MSW management modes, namely, mandatory MSW sorting legislation, Green Account program, and the Combined Network program are introduced. Meanwhile, two main challenges are urgent to be responded, including inadequate collecting vehicles and limited wet waste treatment capacity. Finally, policy recommendations on strengthening MSW recycling process, constructing complete terminal treatment industry, and making systematic policies were provided to respond existing challenges.
With material and energy flow features, iron/steel industry has unique advantage in the industrial symbiosis (IS) formation to realize environmental and economic benefit simultaneously. The ...quantification of the scale and significance of IS benefits is valuable for IS promotion, while there is much few attention to it, especially in China. Under this circumstance, this paper evaluates and compares the number, scale and the related environmental/economic gains of IS activities in iron/steel-centered industrial areas in Liuzhou and Jinan in China, and Kawasaki in Japan. Results show that: in Liuzhou, there are three symbiosis activities between industries. The annual by-product/waste exchange is more than 2 million ton/y, gaining economic revenue more than 36.55 million USD for the iron/steel company. In Jinan, seven symbiotic links are between industries, and two are between urban community and iron/steel plant. The total by-product/waste exchange is over 8 million ton/y and the economic gains account to 158 million USD. In Kawasaki, iron/steel industry relates to four symbiotic links, the total by-product/waste exchange amount is about 500 kton/y, with the economic gains over 54 million USD. The form and the complexity of the IS network are different in the three cases. IS in Liuzhou and Jinan are with the features of large number and scale, but single types. While in Kawasaki, IS includes not only traditional exchanges between iron/steel plant and the other industries, but also the innovative utilization of urban refuse by industrial area. Finally, from the perspective of technology, legislative framework and support policy, circular technology inventory, integrated waste management system, information platform and national subsidies are needed to support the ever-improvement of IS promotion in China's iron/steel industry.
•Evaluates environmental/economic gains of IS in three iron/steel-centered industrial cluster.•Significant environmental/economic gains are confirmed in each case.•The form and the complexity of the IS network are different in the three cases.•IS in Chinese cases are with the features of large number and scale, but single types.•Policy implications to promote IS in China are proposed and discussed.
Differentiated empowering leadership is common in organizations; however, its effect on employee proactive customer service performance remains less understood. Drawing on social comparison theory, ...this study proposes a multilevel model for how and when differentiated empowering leadership affects employee proactive customer service performance. The study, based on a sample of 228 employees from 77 teams in China, shows a negative relationship between differentiated empowering leadership and employee proactive customer service performance through employee organization-based self-esteem. This indirect relationship is moderated by empowering leadership and employee prosocial motivation. Specifically, the influence of differentiated empowering leadership on employee organization-based self-esteem is more negative when employees receive low empowering leadership, and the relationship between employee organization-based self-esteem and proactive customer service performance is more positive for employees with high prosocial motivation. These findings extend previous knowledge on differentiated empowering leadership and provide practical insights for hotel managers.
Water-related problems are currently second only to energy issues as threats to human society. North China is a region that is facing severe water scarcity problems. In order to provide appropriate ...water mitigation policies a regional study is completed. Under this circumstance, Liaoning Province, a typical heavy industrial province in north China is chosen as a case study region. The input–output analysis method is employed in order to evaluate the water footprint both from production and consumption perspectives. The results show that the total water footprint of Liaoning in 2007 was 7.30billionm3, a 84.6% of internal water footprint and a 15.4% external water footprint. The water trade balance of Liaoning was 2.68billionm3, indicating that Liaoning was a net water export region, although water shortages are becoming a more serious concern. The “Agriculture” and “Food and beverage production” sectors are found to have the highest water footprint, water intensity, water exports, and water trade balance. Based upon Liaoning realities policy implications and suggestions are made, including industrial and trade structure adjustment, application of water efficient technology and management measures, and appropriate capacity-building efforts. The methodology and findings may be useful for investigation of water footprints throughout various regions of the world.
► Input–output analysis method was employed to evaluate regional water footprint. ► Mitigation policies for alleviating regional water shortage should consider both direct and indirect water consumption. ► Industrial structure optimization and trade structure changes are useful approaches to reduce regional water stress. ► Water efficiency can be improved through application of innovative water saving technologies.
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