As the top emitter of carbon dioxide worldwide, China faces a considerable challenge in reducing carbon emissions to combat global warming. Carbon emissions from coal consumption is the primary source of carbon dioxide emissions in China. The decomposition of the driving factors and the quantification of regions and industries needs further research. Thus, this paper decomposed five driving factors affecting carbon emissions from coal consumption in China, namely, carbon emission intensity, energy structure, energy intensity, economic output, and population scale, by constructing a Kaya-Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (Kaya-LMDI) decomposition model with data on coal consumption in China from 1997 to 2019. It was revealed that the economic output and energy intensity effects are major drivers and inhibitors of carbon emissions from coal consumption in China, respectively. The contribution and impact of these driving factors on carbon emissions from coal consumption were analyzed for different regions and industrial sectors. The results showed that carbon emissions from coal consumption increased by 3211.92 million tons from 1997 to 2019. From a regional perspective, Hebei Province has the most significant impact on carbon emissions from coal consumption due to the effect of economic output. Additionally, the industrial sector had the most pronounced influence on carbon emissions from coal consumption due to the economic output effect. Finally, a series of measures to reduce carbon emissions including controlling the total coal consumption, improving the utilization rate of clean energy, and optimizing the energy structure is proposed based on China’s actual development.

The integrated night light (NTL) datasets were used to represent the economic development level, and visual analysis was carried out on the evolution characteristics of the economic spatial pattern of various urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), at a county-scale, in 1992, 2005, and 2018. The Global Moran’s I and the local Getis-Ord G methods were used to explore the overall spatial correlation and local cold–hot spot of economic development levels, respectively. The spatial heterogeneity of the influence of relevant factors on the economic development level at the municipal scale was analyzed by using the multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. The results show that the county-level economic spatial pattern of urban agglomeration in the YRB has an obvious “pyramid” characteristic. The hot spots are concentrated in the hinterland of the Guanzhong Plain, the Central Plains, and the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration. The cold spots are concentrated in the junction of urban agglomerations, and the characteristics of “cold in the west and hot in the east” are obvious. Labor input and import and exporthave a positive impact on the economic development level for each urban agglomeration, government force has a negative impact, and education shows both positive and negative polarization on economic development.

The level of urbanization is a key factor in urban development. In this study, to better characterize the level of urbanization, the panel entropy weight method is used to weight the factors of population, industry, and area to construct a composite indicator of urbanization. A panel regression between this composite index and the average night light values after fusion shows a strong correlation. An accuracy test indicates that the estimated value of fused average light as calculated by the urbanization level estimation model that adequately represents the urbanization level. On this basis, night light data is corrected for zero error on the pixel scale, and spatiotemporal evolution analyses are performed on the city and county scales. The standard deviation ellipse method is used to find that the spatial distribution pattern of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urbanization level from 1995 to 2018 radiates and spreads to the northeast, with Beijing-Tianjin as the center. The spatial pattern shows a contracting trend that is strengthening year by year. Slope analyses show that areas with rapid urbanization growth are mainly concentrated in Beijing and Tianjin. The urbanization development speed of most counties in the Hebei Province is at a low level.

As absolute poverty in China, measured by the current standard, is being eliminated, the focus of future poverty reduction projects will necessarily shift to addressing relative poverty. Contiguous poverty areas have been identified in Hebei province around Beijing and Tianjin (HABT), and this is not conducive to the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The dynamic identification of relative poverty at the county level within the region must be the basis for formulating scientific strategies for poverty reduction. Night light (NTL) data can reveal socio-economic information and reflect human activities, and has a wide range of other applications for evaluating and identifying poverty. For this reason, NPP/VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite equipped on the Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership satellite) NTL data from 2012 to 2020 were corrected, and NTL data for HABT were obtained. A multidimensional relative poverty index (MRPI) that assesses being “free from worries over food and clothing and having access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and safe housing” using social statistical data was created with the analytic hierarchy process and entropy weight method. A panel regression model with fixed effects was established for MRPI and corrected NPP/VIIRS NTL data. The R² of fitting was 0.6578 and confirmed a strong correlation between MRPI and corrected NPP/VIIRS NTL data. Based on this, the MRPI estimation model was constructed based on the MRPI and corrected NPP/VIIRS NTL data, and passed the accuracy test. Finally, using the national list of poverty counties, it was verified that, at the county scale, the corrected NPP/VIIRS NTL data could effectively identify areas of relative poverty. This study lays the foundation for the use of NPP/VIIRS NTL data in the identification of areas of relative poverty. It provides a feasible method and data reference for analyzing relative poverty at a smaller scale. The dynamic identification of areas of relative poverty can also provide a basis for formulating scientific poverty reduction strategies.

Accurate measurement of the shadow price of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is fundamental to the scientific assessment of the carbon emission reduction cost and the formulation and execution of China’s carbon emission mitigation policies. Underpinned by the directional distance function, this research uses a parametric linear programming method and a Bayes bootstrap estimation method to estimate the marginal CO₂ emission reduction cost of the industrial sector in China and to quantify the related influencing factors. The results revealed that the marginal reduction cost of industrial CO₂ is CNY 4565/ton. The marginal reduction cost of CO₂ varies by industry, with the textile industry being the highest and the petroleum, coking and nuclear fuel processing industries the lowest. Meanwhile, an increasing number of industries are shifting to cleaner production. Furthermore, the marginal reduction cost of industrial CO₂ has an “inverted U-shaped” relation with carbon intensity. Carbon emission reduction can be accomplished effectively if the carbon intensity is kept below the threshold value of 0.41 tons/CNY 10,000.