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The county is the basic economic spatial unit in China, and is also an integrated spatial carbon emitter. Focusing on a county, especially the developed counties in the Yangtze River Delta, it is of typical significance and enlightenment to conduct an in-depth and detailed dissection. The spatialization of a county's carbon emissions is crucial for exploring the spatial pattern of carbon emissions, which is fundamental information needed to reduce carbon emissions through the optimization or reorganization of the spatial pattern. This study systematically calculated the carbon emissions of Changxing county from four aspects (including energy; industrial processes and product use; agriculture, forestry, and other land use; and wastes), based on a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches. Subsequently, we constructed ten carbon emission spatial datasets with a resolution of 50–500 meters (m). According to landscape metrics and the information loss evaluation model, we analyzed the scale effect of carbon emissions at different resolutions and determined the optimal resolution of the spatial carbon emissions at the county scale to be a 200 m × 200 m grid. A reasonable scale of spatial carbon emission data provides support for low-carbon spatial planning and emission reduction policymaking.
Zhi Long; Zilong Zhang; Sai Liang; Xingpeng Chen; Bowenpeng Ding; Bo Wang; Yanbi Chen; Yingqi Sun; Shuaike Li; Ting Yang. Spatially explicit carbon emissions at the county scale. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 173, 105706 .
AMA StyleZhi Long, Zilong Zhang, Sai Liang, Xingpeng Chen, Bowenpeng Ding, Bo Wang, Yanbi Chen, Yingqi Sun, Shuaike Li, Ting Yang. Spatially explicit carbon emissions at the county scale. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 173 ():105706.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhi Long; Zilong Zhang; Sai Liang; Xingpeng Chen; Bowenpeng Ding; Bo Wang; Yanbi Chen; Yingqi Sun; Shuaike Li; Ting Yang. 2021. "Spatially explicit carbon emissions at the county scale." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 173, no. : 105706.
Since the 1990s, the notion of a circular economy has been developing globally; countries all over the world have been considering the development of a circular economy as an important means of achieving sustainable development. As the development of an industrial circular economy can help promote the efficient recycling of resources, it is an important starting point for industrial transformation and upgrading, and represents a key factor that will lead to the development of a circular economy in China. China’s varying provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) have successively implemented circular economy practices in the industrial field. The research object of the present study is 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the control of central government (Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet were not included owing to lack of data). Through the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) technology and the spatial analysis model, data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, and Tobit regression model, a measure model and index system are constructed, in order to carry out a multi-angle comprehensive study integrating the efficiency evaluation, spatial analysis, and influencing factors analysis of China’s industrial circular economy. It is an important innovation, and an important contribution to the existing research system. The conclusions are as follows: (1) In general, the overall level of China’s industrial circular economy’s efficiency was not high, and there was still a lot of room for improvement. The integrated efficiency of the industrial circular economy in the eastern region was relatively high, followed by that in the western region, and the lowest level in the middle region. (2) The efficiency of China’s industrial circular economy displayed obvious spatial aggregation characteristics at the provincial level, including clear spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity. High-value aggregation areas were mainly distributed in the eastern coastal areas, and low-value aggregation areas were concentrated and contiguously distributed in the middle and western inland areas. (3) The four elements of economic level, openness to the outside, government regulation, and industrialization aggregation each impose a significant positive impact on the efficiency of China’s industrial circular economy, which can promote its efficiency. The level of industrialization exerts a significant negative impact on the efficiency of the industrial circular economy, which hampers its improvement. The impact of technological innovation on the efficiency of the industrial circular economy is not statistically significant.
Chenyu Lu; Yang Zhang; Hengji Li; Zilong Zhang; Wei Cheng; Shulei Jin; Wei Liu. An Integrated Measurement of the Efficiency of China’s Industrial Circular Economy and Associated Influencing Factors. Mathematics 2020, 8, 1610 .
AMA StyleChenyu Lu, Yang Zhang, Hengji Li, Zilong Zhang, Wei Cheng, Shulei Jin, Wei Liu. An Integrated Measurement of the Efficiency of China’s Industrial Circular Economy and Associated Influencing Factors. Mathematics. 2020; 8 (9):1610.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChenyu Lu; Yang Zhang; Hengji Li; Zilong Zhang; Wei Cheng; Shulei Jin; Wei Liu. 2020. "An Integrated Measurement of the Efficiency of China’s Industrial Circular Economy and Associated Influencing Factors." Mathematics 8, no. 9: 1610.
Food waste has become an issue of great public concern because of its environmental impacts and strategic significance of food security worldwide. In the context of ecological civilization construction and circular economy development in China food waste recycling faces critical theoretical and practice obstacles in reality. As China's urban population grows and the restaurant industry expands, the food waste generated by restaurants increases. Therefore restaurant owners’ attitude and behavior towards food waste recycling plays a pivotal role. As a stakeholder, the awareness of restaurant owners affects their attitudes and behavior towards the environment. In this paper, 1,050 restaurant owners from six cities of Gansu province in northwestern China were surveyed to study their awareness of food waste recycling. Using the awareness assessment model, the awareness level of 1,050 restaurant owners were calculated. The results show that 37.33% of respondents has a high awareness and 62.67% of them has a low awareness of food waste recycling. This indicates that the restaurant owners have a low level of overall awareness. Logistic regression model was used to examine factors that affect the awareness level of restaurant owners. Compared with the male restaurant owner, the female one has a lower awareness. The younger restaurant owner has a higher awareness than the older one. In addition, factors, including the educational level of restaurant owner, restaurant scale, amount of daily restaurant food waste, the way of food waste treatment, and the macroeconomic development of city where restaurants located, have positive effects on the awareness.
Lixia Lang; Yueju Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Na Yang; Bing Xue; Wenyan Han. Awareness of food waste recycling in restaurants: evidence from China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2020, 161, 104949 .
AMA StyleLixia Lang, Yueju Wang, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Na Yang, Bing Xue, Wenyan Han. Awareness of food waste recycling in restaurants: evidence from China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2020; 161 ():104949.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLixia Lang; Yueju Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Na Yang; Bing Xue; Wenyan Han. 2020. "Awareness of food waste recycling in restaurants: evidence from China." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 161, no. : 104949.
Eco-efficiency enhancement is an inherent requirement of green development and an important indicator of high-quality development in general. It aims to achieve the coordinated development of nature, the economy, and society. Therefore, eco-efficiency measurements should focus on not only total factor input, but also process analysis. Based on the “full world” model in ecological economic theory, this study constructed a theoretical framework for a composite economic-environmental-social system that reflects human welfare and sustainability. To this end, using network data envelopment analysis (DEA), this study established a staged eco-efficiency evaluation model that uses economic, environmental, and social factors to measure the overall and staged eco-efficiency of China’s provinces from 2003 to 2016 and analyze its spatiotemporal characteristics. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was also used to analyze the influencing factors of eco-efficiency changes and the spatial differentiation in their effect intensity. The findings were as follows: (1) China’s overall eco-efficiency is still at a low level. It varies significantly from region to region, and only three regions are at the frontier of production. The eastern region has the highest eco-efficiency, followed by the central region, and the gap between the central and western regions has gradually narrowed. In terms of staged efficiency, the level of eco-efficiency in the production stage is less than in the environmental governance stage, which is less than that in the social input stage. (2) In terms of the efficiency of each stage, the efficiency level of the production stage showed a downward trend throughout the entire process, and the decline in the central and western regions was more obvious. The social input stage and the environmental governance stage both showed upward trends. The social input stage showed a higher level, and the increase was relatively flat during the period of study. Efficiency continued to rise during the environmental governance stage from 2003 to 2010 and rose overall, but with some fluctuations from 2011 to 2016. (3) Geographically weighted regression showed that the effects of the influencing factors on eco-efficiency had obvious spatial heterogeneity. The factors affecting overall, production stage, and social input eco-efficiency were, in order of effect intensity from high to low, economic growth level, marketization level, and social input level. In terms of environmental governance, social input level had the greatest impact, followed by economic growth; marketization level did not show a significant impact.
Weizhen Ren; Zilong Zhang; Yueju Wang; Bing Xue; Xingpeng Chen. Measuring Regional Eco-Efficiency in China (2003–2016): A “Full World” Perspective and Network Data Envelopment Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 3456 .
AMA StyleWeizhen Ren, Zilong Zhang, Yueju Wang, Bing Xue, Xingpeng Chen. Measuring Regional Eco-Efficiency in China (2003–2016): A “Full World” Perspective and Network Data Envelopment Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (10):3456.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeizhen Ren; Zilong Zhang; Yueju Wang; Bing Xue; Xingpeng Chen. 2020. "Measuring Regional Eco-Efficiency in China (2003–2016): A “Full World” Perspective and Network Data Envelopment Analysis." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 10: 3456.
Background In China, ethnic minorities often live in frontier areas and have a relatively small population size, and tremendous social transitions have enlarged the gap between eastern and western China, with western China being home to 44 ethnic minority groups. These three disadvantages have health impacts. Examining ethnicity and health inequality in the context of western China is therefore essential. Methods This paper is based on data from the 2010 China Survey of Social Change (CSSC2010), which was conducted in 12 provinces, autonomous regions and province-level municipalities in western China and had a sample size of 10,819. We examined self-rated health and disparities in self-rated health between ethnic minorities and Han Chinese in the context of western China. Self-rated health was coded as poor or good, and ethnicity was coded as ethnic minority or Han Chinese. Ethnic differences in self-rated health was examined by using binary logistic regression. Associations among sociodemographic variables, SES variable, health behaviour variable, health problem variables and self-rated health were also explored. Results Fourteen percent of respondents reported their health to be poor. A total of 15.75% of ethnic minorities and 13.43% of Han Chinese respondents reported their health to be poor, indicating a difference in self-rated health between ethnic minorities and Han Chinese. Age, gender, marital status, education, alcohol, and health problems were the main factors that affected differences in self-rated health. Conclusion In western China, there were obvious ethnic disparities in self-rated health. Elderly ethnic minorities, non-partnered ethnic minorities, ethnic minorities with an educational level lower than middle school, and ethnic minorities with chronic disease had higher odds of poor self-rated health.
Y. J. Wang; X. P. Chen; W. J. Chen; Z. L. Zhang; Y. P. Zhou; Z. Jia. Ethnicity and health inequalities: an empirical study based on the 2010 China survey of social change (CSSC) in Western China. BMC Public Health 2020, 20, 637 -12.
AMA StyleY. J. Wang, X. P. Chen, W. J. Chen, Z. L. Zhang, Y. P. Zhou, Z. Jia. Ethnicity and health inequalities: an empirical study based on the 2010 China survey of social change (CSSC) in Western China. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20 (1):637-12.
Chicago/Turabian StyleY. J. Wang; X. P. Chen; W. J. Chen; Z. L. Zhang; Y. P. Zhou; Z. Jia. 2020. "Ethnicity and health inequalities: an empirical study based on the 2010 China survey of social change (CSSC) in Western China." BMC Public Health 20, no. 1: 637-12.
As the forerunner and policy test field of the sustainable development, the sustainable development pilot zones are an important strategy for China to explore the mechanism and model of the coordinated development of human and land in different regional units. However, the impact of sustainable development pilot zones, especially on the improvement of environmental efficiency, needs to be assessed. In this paper, 187 prefecture-level cities in China were taken as samples (22 sustainable development pilot zones and 165 nonpilot ones). Firstly, the environmental efficiency of 187 prefecture-level cities between 2006 and 2016 was measured by data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then, the effect of construction of sustainable development pilot zones on environmental efficiency was assessed using the difference-in-difference (DID) model. The assessment results were further verified by propensity score matching with difference-in-difference (PSM-DID). In addition, the impact mechanism of construction of the sustainable development pilot zones on the environmental efficiency was discussed. Results show that the environmental efficiency of sustainable development pilot zones is 27.7∼31.7% greater than that of nonsustainable one, which is mainly attributed to the environmental regulation and industrial structure adjustment.
Junxia Ma; Zilong Zhang; Chenyu Lu; Bing Xue. Could the Construction of Sustainable Development Pilot Zones Improve the Urban Environment Efficiency in China? Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2020, 2020, 1 -9.
AMA StyleJunxia Ma, Zilong Zhang, Chenyu Lu, Bing Xue. Could the Construction of Sustainable Development Pilot Zones Improve the Urban Environment Efficiency in China? Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society. 2020; 2020 ():1-9.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJunxia Ma; Zilong Zhang; Chenyu Lu; Bing Xue. 2020. "Could the Construction of Sustainable Development Pilot Zones Improve the Urban Environment Efficiency in China?" Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2020, no. : 1-9.
As an open artificial ecosystem, the development of a city requires the continuous input and output of material and energy, which is called urban metabolism, and includes catabolic (material-flow) and anabolic (material-accumulation) processes. Previous studies have focused on the catabolic and ignored the anabolic process due to data and technology problems. The combination of remote-sensing technology and high-resolution satellite images facilitates the estimation of cumulative material amounts in urban systems. This study focused on persistent accumulation, which is the metabolic response of urban land use/urban land expansion, building stock, and road stock to land-use changes. Building stock is an extremely cost-intensive and long-lived component of cumulative metabolism. The study measured building stocks of Jinchang, China’s nickel capital by using remote-sensing images and field-research data. The development of the built environment could be analyzed by comparing the stock of buildings on maps representing different time periods. The results indicated that material anabolism in Jinchang is a distance-dependent function, where the amounts and rates of material anabolism decrease with changes in distance to the central business district (CBD) and city administration center (CAC). The cumulative metabolic rate and cumulative total metabolism were observed to be increasing, however, the growth rate has decreased.
Shuqi He; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Zhaoyue Wang; Mengran Hu. The Exploration of Urban Material Anabolism Based on RS and GIS Methods: Case Study in Jinchang, China. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 370 .
AMA StyleShuqi He, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Zhaoyue Wang, Mengran Hu. The Exploration of Urban Material Anabolism Based on RS and GIS Methods: Case Study in Jinchang, China. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (3):370.
Chicago/Turabian StyleShuqi He; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Zhaoyue Wang; Mengran Hu. 2020. "The Exploration of Urban Material Anabolism Based on RS and GIS Methods: Case Study in Jinchang, China." Remote Sensing 12, no. 3: 370.
The recycling of restaurant food waste can bring environmental benefits and improve food safety for urban residents. We here assessed the entire life cycle of the anaerobic digestion–aerobic composting technique of restaurant food waste recycling using Lanzhou as a case study. We used the CML2001 method provided with the Gabi software and compared the results to those produced using the traditional treatment techniques (landfill and incineration). This work includes a sensitivity analysis of the results. It is here concluded that the anaerobic digestion–aerobic composting technique had the smallest environmental impact of the methods here examined. The life cycle of anaerobic digestion–aerobic composting primarily consumes water, clay, coal, crude oil, and natural gas. The pre-processing phase consumes the most resources, and anaerobic digestion showed the greatest environmental impact. Specific environmental impacts in order from the highest to lowest potential to exacerbate global warming were found to be photochemical ozone production, acidification, eutrophication, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The main factors associated with different environmental impacts and the environmental impacts themselves were found to differ across different phases. Some environmental impacts were shown to be sensitive to electricity, and the eutrophication potential and photochemical ozone creation potential showed the least sensitivity to all variables. To reduce the environmental impact of the anaerobic digestion–aerobic composting treatment technique, the energy structure and consumption of electricity, water, and diesel need to be optimized.
Zilong Zhang; Wenyan Han; Xingpeng Chen; Na Yang; Chenyu Lu; Yueju Wang; Han; Chen; Yang; Lu; Wang. The Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of Recycling of Restaurant Food Waste in Lanzhou, China. Applied Sciences 2019, 9, 3608 .
AMA StyleZilong Zhang, Wenyan Han, Xingpeng Chen, Na Yang, Chenyu Lu, Yueju Wang, Han, Chen, Yang, Lu, Wang. The Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of Recycling of Restaurant Food Waste in Lanzhou, China. Applied Sciences. 2019; 9 (17):3608.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZilong Zhang; Wenyan Han; Xingpeng Chen; Na Yang; Chenyu Lu; Yueju Wang; Han; Chen; Yang; Lu; Wang. 2019. "The Life-Cycle Environmental Impact of Recycling of Restaurant Food Waste in Lanzhou, China." Applied Sciences 9, no. 17: 3608.
Cross-city convergence in green space coverage could contribute to our understanding of the law of motion of distribution dynamics of environmental sustainability across cities and provide crucial information for designing policies regarding complex processes relating to human–environment interactions in an urban system. The relationship between socioeconomic factors and green space coverage has been widely discussed, but research on the distribution dynamics of green space coverage across cities is limited. This paper explored the pattern of convergence in green space coverage of a group of 285 Chinese cities over the period of 2002–2012 by using hybrid approaches, including the nonparametric estimation technique, unconditional β-convergence model, and conditional β-convergence model. The results indicated that the green space coverage level in most cities has been substantially improved; the spatial disparity across Chinese cities has shrunk, and the level of green space coverage has converged to 104% of the average level. The β-convergence estimation results demonstrate the existence of unconditional and conditional convergence in green space coverage among Chinese cities, which indicates that cities with a low initial level of green space coverage grow faster than those with an initial high level. Faster sprawling, more compact and wealthier cities are likely to converge to a higher level of green space coverage. Expansion of the population and spatial scale of cities contributes to increasing green space coverage, sprawling of built-up area leads to a decrease of the green space coverage, and economic growth has little impact on green space coverage.
Yueju Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Chenyu Lu. Cross-City Convergence in Urban Green Space Coverage in China. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4707 .
AMA StyleYueju Wang, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Bing Xue, Chenyu Lu. Cross-City Convergence in Urban Green Space Coverage in China. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (17):4707.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYueju Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Chenyu Lu. 2019. "Cross-City Convergence in Urban Green Space Coverage in China." Sustainability 11, no. 17: 4707.
The improvement of energy consumption efficiency represents a significant task and a critical step toward sustainable energy transformations. This study uses a data envelopment analysis (DEA) and spatial autocorrelation method to conduct comprehensive measurement and assessment research on the economic-environmental efficiency of energy consumption in 31 Chinese provinces. It then carries out a synthetic study on energy consumption efficiency in the context of temporal and spatial dimensions, analyzes the characteristics and patterns related to temporal and spatial evolution, and systematically summarizes the temporal and spatial evolution processes associated with China’s economic-environmental efficiency in energy consumption. The results show that economic efficiency and environmental efficiency, both directly related to energy consumption, are positively correlated and display a parallel and synchronizing relationship. China’s energy consumption efficiency displays an upward trend in general, although differences exist between economic efficiency and environmental efficiency about the growth rate and overall development level. In other words, economic efficiency is generally higher than environmental efficiency. A positive spatial correlation occurs between economic and environmental efficiency in energy consumption across all the Chinese provinces studied. Furthermore, some cluster characteristic can be identified. Accurately, the eastern coastal area of China with a higher efficiency represents a spatial cluster of high values, whereas the midwestern inland area of China with a lower efficiency represents a spatial cluster of low values. Therefore, a descending pattern is displayed from the east to the west. As time goes by, the extent of clustering could become more prominent, accompanied by an increasing spatial cluster of high values and a decreasing spatial cluster of low values. Accordingly, China needs to improve its energy consumption efficiency further and promote sustainable energy transformations.
Chenyu Lu; Peng Meng; Xueyan Zhao; Lu Jiang; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue. Assessing the Economic-Environmental Efficiency of Energy Consumption and Spatial Patterns in China. Sustainability 2019, 11, 591 .
AMA StyleChenyu Lu, Peng Meng, Xueyan Zhao, Lu Jiang, Zilong Zhang, Bing Xue. Assessing the Economic-Environmental Efficiency of Energy Consumption and Spatial Patterns in China. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (3):591.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChenyu Lu; Peng Meng; Xueyan Zhao; Lu Jiang; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue. 2019. "Assessing the Economic-Environmental Efficiency of Energy Consumption and Spatial Patterns in China." Sustainability 11, no. 3: 591.
The relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution has long been a controversial topic. However, simply the detection of the existence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is not enough to understand how economic growth induced environmental pollution. This study investigated the path and mechanism of the effect of economic growth on the emission of two types of environmental pollutants, that is, industrial smoke and dust and sulfur dioxide, by using a structural equation model and a sample of 283 prefecture-level cities in China in 2005 and 2015. The research results show that economic growth exerted both direct and indirect effects on the emission of the two environmental pollutants. In addition to a direct impact through the economic scale effect, economic growth also indirectly impacted the two environmental pollutants emissions through three mediators, that is, industrial structure, technological innovations and environmental regulations. For different pollutants, the effect paths of economic growth on their emission showed both similarities and differences. First, with regards to industrial smoke and dust emissions and sulfur dioxide emissions, the effects of economic growth on the amount of these two emissions through environmental regulations and the industrial structure were negative inhibitory effects and positive promoting effects, respectively. This means that in prefectural-level cities in China, environmental regulation factors have produced some effects in reducing the emissions of these two pollutants while the industrial structure (level of industrialization) can increase the emissions of these two pollutants. However, the effect strength of these two paths shows a gradual weakening. Second, these two paths differ in effect strength and its changes. The positive promoting effects of the industrial structure on pollutant emission are significantly higher than the inhibitory effects of environmental regulation. In addition, our study also found that the direct impact path of economic growth on environmental pollution also passed significance testing, particularly in 2015. This shows that other reasons affect pollutant emission, such as system factors, spatial migration of industries and so forth.
Na Yang; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Junxia Ma; Xingpeng Chen; Chenyu Lu. Economic Growth and Pollution Emission in China: Structural Path Analysis. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2569 .
AMA StyleNa Yang, Zilong Zhang, Bing Xue, Junxia Ma, Xingpeng Chen, Chenyu Lu. Economic Growth and Pollution Emission in China: Structural Path Analysis. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (7):2569.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNa Yang; Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Junxia Ma; Xingpeng Chen; Chenyu Lu. 2018. "Economic Growth and Pollution Emission in China: Structural Path Analysis." Sustainability 10, no. 7: 2569.
Improving the sustainability of traditional resource-based cities in China has been a core issue and policy-priority for Chinese government to establish long-term ecological civilization, particularly for northeastern China which is recognized as a typical agglomeration area of resources cities. In this study, we establish a three-layer index system consisting of a comprehensive layer, systemic layer, and variable layer, and including 22 indicators which are grouped into economic, social and environmental subsystems. After that, the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method was applied to measure and rank the sustainability of the selected 15 typical resource-based cities in northeast China, and then a GIS (Geographical Information System) technique based on the software of SuperMap was applied to map the sustainability in terms of the spatial effects among these cities. The results reveal that a unilateral improvement of a subsystem did not mean an improvement or contribution to whole system. In detail, during the past 15 years from 2000 to 2015, the comprehensive sustainability of resource-based cities in Northeastern China shows a declining trend in the mass, and the sustainability of the economic subsystem shows increase; the sustainability of the social system remains stable, while the environmental subsystem shows decrease. These situations might result from policy interventions during the past 15 years, therefore, promoting the sustainability of resource-based cities needs a historical approach, which should focus on the coordinated development of its economic, social, and environmental subsystems.
Chengpeng Lu; Bing Xue; Chenyu Lu; Ting Wang; Lu Jiang; Zilong Zhang; WanXia Ren. Sustainability Investigation of Resource-Based Cities in Northeastern China. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1058 .
AMA StyleChengpeng Lu, Bing Xue, Chenyu Lu, Ting Wang, Lu Jiang, Zilong Zhang, WanXia Ren. Sustainability Investigation of Resource-Based Cities in Northeastern China. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (10):1058.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChengpeng Lu; Bing Xue; Chenyu Lu; Ting Wang; Lu Jiang; Zilong Zhang; WanXia Ren. 2016. "Sustainability Investigation of Resource-Based Cities in Northeastern China." Sustainability 8, no. 10: 1058.
Eco-efficiency is a tool for sustainability analysis that indicates how to carry out economic activities effectively. This paper assesses agricultural eco-efficiency using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Theil index approach. Using basic data of 31 provinces in China during 2003–2013, we analyzed the agricultural eco-efficiency development level and spatial pattern in China. The results show that the agricultural eco-efficiency of only four provinces has been relatively efficient in the entire study period, namely, Zhejiang, Hainan, Chongqing, and Tibet. The results also show that agricultural eco-efficiency was higher mainly in south of the Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River Line and north of the Yangtze River area, that agricultural eco-efficiency is mainly affected by pure technical efficiency, and that highly efficient areas are mainly concentrated in the densely populated areas, i.e., the economic developed areas (except Tibet). The Theil index results show that the agricultural eco-efficiency difference weakened between provinces in China, as did western and northeast regions, but eastern and central regions show a slight upward trend.
Jiaxing Pang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Hengji Li. Measuring Eco-Efficiency of Agriculture in China. Sustainability 2016, 8, 398 .
AMA StyleJiaxing Pang, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Hengji Li. Measuring Eco-Efficiency of Agriculture in China. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (4):398.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJiaxing Pang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Hengji Li. 2016. "Measuring Eco-Efficiency of Agriculture in China." Sustainability 8, no. 4: 398.
Unprecedented economic achievement in China has occurred along with rising resource consumption and waste productions levels. The goal of sustainability requires the decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption (resource decoupling) and environmental degradation (impact decoupling). For this paper, the performances of resource decoupling (energy and water) and impact decoupling (wastewater, SO2 and CO2) in China were evaluated, and the spatial pattern and temporal trend of decoupling performance were investigated by using the rescaled range analysis (R/S). The results indicate the following. (1) The performance of resource decoupling during the investigated period is worse than that of traditional impact (SO2 and wastewater) decoupling, but better than that of the CO2 emission. Additionally, the decoupling performances of energy consumption and related pollutant emission (except CO2) are better than that of water usage and wastewater discharge; (2) The decoupling performance of energy consumption, SO2 and CO2, has substantially improved from the 10th Five-Year Planning Period (FYP) (2001–2005) to the 11th FYP (2006–2010), which indicates that the decoupling performance is highly related the environmental policy; (3) The spatial disparities of the performance of resource and impact decoupling are declining, which indicates the existence of cross-province convergence in decoupling performance; (4) The decoupling performance of SO2 and water usage in most of regions shows an improving trend. Inversely, the decoupling performance of energy consumption, CO2 emission, and wastewater discharge in most regions show a decreasing trend; (5) China needs more stringent water-saving targets and wastewater discharge standards; better policy efforts to improve the water recycling level both in agricultural, industrial and municipal level are required to prevent the decreasing trend of the decoupling performance.
Zilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Jiaxing Pang; Xingpeng Chen. The Decoupling of Resource Consumption and Environmental Impact from Economic Growth in China: Spatial Pattern and Temporal Trend. Sustainability 2016, 8, 222 .
AMA StyleZilong Zhang, Bing Xue, Jiaxing Pang, Xingpeng Chen. The Decoupling of Resource Consumption and Environmental Impact from Economic Growth in China: Spatial Pattern and Temporal Trend. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (3):222.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZilong Zhang; Bing Xue; Jiaxing Pang; Xingpeng Chen. 2016. "The Decoupling of Resource Consumption and Environmental Impact from Economic Growth in China: Spatial Pattern and Temporal Trend." Sustainability 8, no. 3: 222.
China is the largest CO2 emitter in the world and is still reliant on energy consumption for economic growth. Research has focused on effective approaches of reducing and mitigating CO2 emissions. This paper undertakes a decomposition study of energy-related CO2 emissions from the industrial and household sectors during the period 1996–2012, with the objectives of investigating trends of the changes in energy-related CO2 emissions, the driving forces of these changes, and approaches of mitigating CO2 emission. Results show the following: (1) the expansion of economic activity is the dominant stimulatory factor of the increase of CO2 emissions in China and that a sustained increase in CO2 emissions can be expected; (2) the decline in energy intensity and the adjustment of energy mix and industrial structure effectively mitigate CO2 emissions; and (3) the government should give more attention to enhancing the energy utility efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions in rural households.
Guokui Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Chaolan Niu. Influencing Factors of Energy-Related CO2 Emissions in China: A Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability 2015, 7, 14408 -14426.
AMA StyleGuokui Wang, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Chaolan Niu. Influencing Factors of Energy-Related CO2 Emissions in China: A Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability. 2015; 7 (10):14408-14426.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGuokui Wang; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Chaolan Niu. 2015. "Influencing Factors of Energy-Related CO2 Emissions in China: A Decomposition Analysis." Sustainability 7, no. 10: 14408-14426.
Since adoption of the policy of reform and opening-up in 1978, China has achieved spectacular success in economic growth, which mainly driven by abundant consumption of natural resources and resulted in serious environmental problems. Based on Emergy approach and Rescaled Range analysis, this paper aims to examine the decoupling condition in economic growth nexus environmental pressure both at specific and aggregate level and track the changing trend and the corresponding socio-economic cost in decoupling process. The results show that: the decoupling performance of waste emission (includes waste water, SO2 and solid waste) is better than energy consumption at a specific level which implies that the policies focused on end-of-pipe treatment has been succeeded in meeting the targets of emission reduction. But at aggregate level, the situation is opposite which suggest that China need more efforts in life-cycle management. The weak decoupling condition of resource use and waste water discharge may continue in the future, so as the strong decoupling condition of SO2 and solid waste, but for the aggregate environmental pressure induced by waste emission, the decoupling performance may be getting worse in the future. The investment cost of decoupling increased, whilst the job-cost of decoupling decreased. The decoupling performance can be influenced by environmental policies substantially, such as the polices of circular economy, rigorous emission reduction and waste recycling which have brought about the strong decoupling of SO2 emission and solid waste discharge from economic growth, whereas the less rigorous policies on resource exploitation and waste water discharge didn’t achieve the same result. Therefore, China needs to intensify the unity among various environmental policies.
Zilong Zhang; Xingpeng Chen; Peter Heck; Bing Xue; Ye Liu. Empirical study on the environmental pressure versus economic growth in China during 1991–2012. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2015, 101, 182 -193.
AMA StyleZilong Zhang, Xingpeng Chen, Peter Heck, Bing Xue, Ye Liu. Empirical study on the environmental pressure versus economic growth in China during 1991–2012. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2015; 101 ():182-193.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZilong Zhang; Xingpeng Chen; Peter Heck; Bing Xue; Ye Liu. 2015. "Empirical study on the environmental pressure versus economic growth in China during 1991–2012." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 101, no. : 182-193.
As the largest solid waste (SW) generator in the world, China is facing serious pollution issues induced by increasing quantities of SW. The sustainability assessment of SW management is very important for designing relevant policy for further improving the overall efficiency of solid waste management (SWM). By focusing on industrial solid waste (ISW) and municipal solid waste (MSW), the paper investigated the sustainability performance of SWM by applying decoupling analysis, and further identified the main drivers of SW change in China by adopting Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The results indicate that China has made a great achievement in SWM which was specifically expressed as the increase of ISW utilized amount and harmless disposal ratio of MSW, decrease of industrial solid waste discharged (ISWD), and absolute decoupling of ISWD from economic growth as well. However, China has a long way to go to achieve the goal of sustainable management of SW. The weak decoupling, even expansive negative decoupling of ISW generation and MSW disposal suggests that China needs timely technology innovation and rational institutional arrangement to reduce SW intensity from the source and promote classification and recycling. The factors of investment efficiency and technology are the main determinants of the decrease in SW, inversely, economic growth has increased SW discharge. The effects of investment intensity showed a volatile trend over time but eventually decreased SW discharged. Moreover, the factors of population and industrial structure slightly increased SW.
Xingpeng Chen; Jiaxing Pang; Zilong Zhang; Hengji Li. Sustainability Assessment of Solid Waste Management in China: A Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability 2014, 6, 9268 -9281.
AMA StyleXingpeng Chen, Jiaxing Pang, Zilong Zhang, Hengji Li. Sustainability Assessment of Solid Waste Management in China: A Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability. 2014; 6 (12):9268-9281.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXingpeng Chen; Jiaxing Pang; Zilong Zhang; Hengji Li. 2014. "Sustainability Assessment of Solid Waste Management in China: A Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis." Sustainability 6, no. 12: 9268-9281.
Integrated analysis on socio-economic metabolism could provide a basis for understanding and optimizing regional sustainability. The paper conducted socio-economic metabolism analysis by means of the emergy accounting method coupled with data envelopment analysis and decomposition analysis techniques to assess the sustainability of Qingyang city and its eight sub-region system, as well as to identify the major driving factors of performance change during 2000–2007, to serve as the basis for future policy scenarios. The results indicate that Qingyang greatly depended on non-renewable emergy flows and feedback (purchased) emergy flows, except the two sub-regions, named Huanxian and Huachi, which highly depended on renewable emergy flow. Zhenyuan, Huanxian and Qingcheng were identified as being relatively emergy efficient, and the other five sub-regions have potential to reduce natural resource inputs and waste output to achieve the goal of efficiency. The results of decomposition analysis show that the economic growth, as well as the increased emergy yield ratio and population not accompanied by a sufficient increase of resource utilization efficiency are the main drivers of the unsustainable economic model in Qingyang and call for polices to promote the efficiency of resource utilization and to optimize natural resource use.
Zilong Zhang; Xingpeng Chen; Peter Heck. Emergy-Based Regional Socio-Economic Metabolism Analysis: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability 2014, 6, 8618 -8638.
AMA StyleZilong Zhang, Xingpeng Chen, Peter Heck. Emergy-Based Regional Socio-Economic Metabolism Analysis: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and Decomposition Analysis. Sustainability. 2014; 6 (12):8618-8638.
Chicago/Turabian StyleZilong Zhang; Xingpeng Chen; Peter Heck. 2014. "Emergy-Based Regional Socio-Economic Metabolism Analysis: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and Decomposition Analysis." Sustainability 6, no. 12: 8618-8638.
Ecological Footprint model is an important method to evaluate the sustainability of regional development. This paper assesses the area demand of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region by calculates the Ecological Footprint and the Ecological Carrying Capacity in the 20 years from 1986 to 2005.The results show that Ecological Deficits occurred and then continued to increase, which demonstrate that great human-environment conflicts existed, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was in a state of unsustainable development, which poses a grave threat to the stability and sustainable development of the regional ecological economic system.
Chengpeng Lu; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Wenting Jiao; Bing Xue; Bo Zhao. Sustainability Assessment of Regional Development Based on the Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. 2011 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference 2011, 1 -4.
AMA StyleChengpeng Lu, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Wenting Jiao, Bing Xue, Bo Zhao. Sustainability Assessment of Regional Development Based on the Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. 2011 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference. 2011; ():1-4.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChengpeng Lu; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Wenting Jiao; Bing Xue; Bo Zhao. 2011. "Sustainability Assessment of Regional Development Based on the Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China." 2011 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference , no. : 1-4.
Zhengning County in Gansu Province, the cradle of traditional farming culture, is abundant in coal resource and solar energy, but it is ecologically fragile and has significant ecological service function, therefore facing the dual pressure of resource exploitation and environmental protection. Based on the analysis of main emergy indices of Zhengning eco-economic system during the past 20 years, this paper evaluates the efficiency of material metabolism and the capability for sustainable development, and puts forward sustainable management to promote the rapid and harmonious development of west China's counties.
Wenting Jiao; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Chengpeng Lu; Xiaojia Guo; Bo Zhao. County Sustainable Development and Management in Gansu Loess Plateau Based on Emergy Analysis--Taking Zhengning County in Gansu Province as an Example. 2010 International Conference on Management and Service Science 2010, 1 -4.
AMA StyleWenting Jiao, Xingpeng Chen, Zilong Zhang, Chengpeng Lu, Xiaojia Guo, Bo Zhao. County Sustainable Development and Management in Gansu Loess Plateau Based on Emergy Analysis--Taking Zhengning County in Gansu Province as an Example. 2010 International Conference on Management and Service Science. 2010; ():1-4.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWenting Jiao; Xingpeng Chen; Zilong Zhang; Chengpeng Lu; Xiaojia Guo; Bo Zhao. 2010. "County Sustainable Development and Management in Gansu Loess Plateau Based on Emergy Analysis--Taking Zhengning County in Gansu Province as an Example." 2010 International Conference on Management and Service Science , no. : 1-4.