China has grown into the world’s largest tourist source market and its huge tourism activities and resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are particularly becoming a concern in the context of global climate warming. To depict the trajectory of carbon emissions, a long-range energy alternatives planning system (LEAP)-Tourist model, consisting of two scenarios and four sub-scenarios, was established for observing and predicting tourism greenhouse gas peaks in China from 2017 to 2040. The results indicate that GHG emissions will peak at 1048.01 million-ton CO₂ equivalent (Mt CO_2e) in 2033 under the integrated (INT) scenario. Compared with the business as usual (BAU) scenario, INT will save energy by 24.21% in 2040 and reduce energy intensity from 0.4979 tons of CO₂ equivalent/10⁴ yuan (TCO_2e/10⁴ yuan) to 0.3761 Tce/10⁴ yuan. Although the INT scenario has achieved promising effects of energy saving and carbon reduction, the peak year 2033 in the tourist industry is still later than China’s expected peak year of 2030. This is due to the growth potential and moderate carbon control measures in the tourist industry. Thus, in order to keep the tourist industry in synchronization with China’s peak goals, more stringent measures are needed, e.g., the promotion of clean fuel shuttle buses, the encouragement of low carbon tours, the cancelation of disposable toiletries and the recycling of garbage resources. The results of this simulation study will help set GHG emission peak targets in the tourist industry and formulate a low carbon roadmap to guide carbon reduction actions in the field of GHG emissions with greater certainty.

The changes in niche roles and functions caused by competition for survival resources have implications in various domains, with natural science and social science standing out. Currently, expanding the ecological niche concept and its practical interpretation in the fields of social ecology, geography and sustainable science is becoming a crucial challenge. This paper is based on niche theory to observe niche evolution and resulting socio-ecological effects of 1186 towns in 19 prefecture cities in Yangtze River delta. The results indicate that: Towns around the Taihu Lake displayed obvious spatial agglomeration, which was leading the development of the entire region. The town niche shows obvious characteristics of north-south differences and hierarchy distribution. The niche coordination degree of Jiangsu Province was higher than that of Zhejiang Province. The higher the subsystem coordination degree, the better the town development. Towns with poor ecological conditions are often subject to competition, while towns with better ecological conditions often benefit from cooperative development. The niche separation and collaboration could enhance niche competition of towns and cities in the region. The proposed framework can facilitate interdisciplinary exchanges among geography, sociology, landscape ecology and regional planning and provide insights for understanding regional co-opetition relationship and regional sustainable development.

In the 14th Five-Year Plan, China clearly proposed to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutralization by 2060, which will be incorporated into the Ecological Civilization Construction. Therefore, it is particularly important to control the consumption of fossil energy in rural areas. Under this background, the paper is based on the filed survey data of rural households and uses the method of CLAD (the censored least absolute deviations) estimation of Tobit model to study the influencing factors and structural characteristics of rural households’ energy consumption. The results show that the consumption of traditional energy with low-quality takes a main proportion of total energy consumption in rural households, which is unreasonable and needs transforming urgently. Also, there is heterogeneity among regions. Family characteristics, family wealth, and energy conservation initiative have an impact on total energy consumption and different types of energy. Especially, households with high frequency of energy conservation behavior and strong policy perception will reduce the consumption of high-polluting firewood and increase the use of coal and electricity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the burgeoning sector of immersive experience spaces in the tourism industry, which represents a significant integration of digital technology, culture and tourism. The study aims to understand how spatial perception and psychological distance interact to shape immersive experiences within this context. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology employed in this research combines questionnaire surveys and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to delve into the factors that contribute to immersive tourism experiences. This mixed-methods approach enables a comprehensive examination of both objective environmental factors and subjective emotional considerations that drive these experiences. Findings: The study’s findings reveal that highly immersive tourism experiences are driven by both objective environmental elements (e.g. engaging spatial activities and ambiance) and subjective emotional aspects (e.g. emotional value from social interactions). The study also highlights the critical role of environmental atmosphere perception in shaping non-highly immersive tourism experiences. Originality/value: By integrating spatial perception and psychological distance with the mind-body dualism framework, this study advances the theoretical understanding of immersive experiences. It demonstrates how these dimensions interact to influence tourists’ immersion, offering a new perspective that can guide future research.