Trade Benefits and Environmental Costs of GVCS: A Case Study of the BRICS

As the international trading system has developed with the division of Global value Chains (GVCS), the export trade of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) has grown rapidly. The resulting growth of carbon emissions has drawn wide attention from the international community, necessitating the comparison of the trade benefits and environmental costs of the BRICS participation in GVCS. Based on the Eora database, this paper constructs a decomposition framework for the calculation of export value-added and embodied carbon, based on a multi-region input-output (MRIO) model. The trade benefits and environmental costs paid by the BRICS’ total exports from 1990 to 2015 were measured and the imbalance was analyzed, along with the causes. The results show that the main value-added and carbon embodied in the BRICS’ exports originate from their own countries, and the domestic value-added content of the BRICS’ exports decreased while the foreign value-added content increased.

Economic Benefits and Environmental Costs of China＇s Exports： A Comparison with the USA Based on Network Analysis

This＇ paper decomposes economic benefits （value-added） and environmental costs （CO2） of exports according to their sources, and maps the global value network （GVN） and the global emissions network （GEN） for China＇s exports during 1995-2009 from national, sectoral and national sectoral perspectives. A comparison is conducted between China and the USA. National GVN and GEN show that shares of value-added and CO2 emissions from China in its GVN and GEN both decreased first then increased after 2006, while shares from the USA in its GVN and GEN generally decreased. Seetoral GVN and GEN show that among China＇s exports, ＂electrical and optical equipment＂ and ＂electricity, gas and water supply＂ were, respectively, the sectors that obtained the most value-added and emitted the most CO2. National-sectoral G VN and GEN for China exhibited reciprocal and disassortative patterns, and in-strengths and out-strengths of GVN and GEN for China ＇s exports were mainly captured by several domestic country-sector pairs.

Environmental cost and pollution risk caused by the industrial transfer in Qinghai Province

With the rising pressure due to energy consumption and costs of environmental protection and recovery, industrial transfer from the eastern to central and western areas has surged in China. However, extremely fragile ecological conditions and severe water shortage are significant hurdles for industry development in Western China. Whether the vulnerable environment can bear the pollution caused by the transferred industry from Eastern China becomes a significant issue. This study firstly estimates energy and environmental costs in different areas of China, and assesses the necessity to upgrade the industrial structure of Qinghai Province. Then the emis- sions of waste water, waste gas, and smoke caused by transferred industries are calculated by Input-Output Model. On the basis of the effect analysis of waste emission on environment, pollution risks of Qinghai province are assessed. The results illustrate that the costs of environmental protection and recovery in China have a gradient distribution, of which the energy efficiency is Lower while environmental costs are higher in Western China. Industrial structure adjustment has different impacts on the pollution of different sectors. Although the development of machinery and equipment, hotels and catering services, and real estate, leasing, and business services has increased the emission of pollutants, it is offset by the decreasing emissions caused by other industries such as construction and metal products. Therefore, although economic development will increase environ- mental pollution, industrial adjustments can effectively decrease waste water and waste gas emissions to reduce the pollution risk. It should be noted that there are still tremendous challenges for industrial transfer in Qinghai Province to coordinate the environment and industry development.

The Management of Environment Cost Caused by Ballast Water

According to classical economic theory,external cost is the indirect,and uncompensated,social or environmental cost caused to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party’s activity.In light of this,the environmental cost caused by ballast water is considered as a negative externality.This paper aims to contribute by proposing that the environmental cost caused by ballast water can be determined through questionnaires,and that the imposition of a Pigouvian retributive tax is required to compensate for the environmental damage caused.The paper proceeds as follows.Firstly,ballast water management is discussed.Second,the environmental cost is discussed and it is asserted that it is important to have clear regulations and to update them frequently to prevent or minimize ballast water’s negative impact on the environment.Finally,it is suggested that the environmental cost caused by ballast water can be determined by questionnaires and,more specifically,by the WTP(Willingness to Pay)method,and that a special Pigouvian corrective taxation which can internalize this cost should be imposed.

Environmental deterioration of farmlands caused by the irrational use of agricultural technologies

Without considering the ecosystem-depen- dence of agricultural production, irrational use of agricultural technologies could bring only short-term economic benefits but leave long-term environmental deterioration. If some agricultural lands have to be abandoned because of these technologies such as chemical films or groundwater depletion, it will aggravate the burden of remaining lands for maintaining or enhancing production. Thus, agricultural production should be a part of public services, requiring the consideration of interests of different stakeholders and sustainability.

The valuation of China’s environmental degradation from 2004 to 2017

This paper aims to evaluate the cost of environmental degradation by adopting the conventional environmental economic methodology in China from 2004 to 2017 and summarize the change in both the causes and costs of China’s environmental degradation.Results from this study revealed the following:i.The environmental degradation cost in China increased from 511 billion yuan to 1,892 billion yuan from 2004 to 2017,and its share in the GDP decreased from 3.05% to 2.23%;ii.The environmental degradation cost growth rate was lower than the GDP growth rate.The environmental degradation cost growth rate decreased sharply,by dropping from 10% in 2014 to 2% in 2017.The environmental benefits of industrial transformation have emerged;iii.The provinces of Shandong,Hebei,Jiangsu,Henan,and Guangdong had the highest environmental degradation costs.The annual average growth rate of the environmental degradation costs in Jiangsu,Guangdong,and Zhejiang were lower than their growth rate of the GDP respectively;iv.Consideration of environmental degradation cost in decision-making could contribute to the high-quality development of China.

A Green Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model for Optimization of Byproduct Gases in Iron and Steel Industry

Byproduct gas is an important secondary energy in iron and steel industry, and its optimization is vital to cost reduction. With the development of iron and steel industry to be more eco-friendly, it is necessary to construct an integrated optimized system, taking economics, energy consumption and environment into consideration. Therefore, the environmental cost caused by pollutants discharge should be factored in total cost when optimizing byproduct gas distribution. A green mixed integer linear programming （MILP） model for the optimization of byproduct gases was established to reduce total cost, including both operation cost and environmental cost. The operation cost included penalty for gas deviation, costs of fuel and water consumption, holder booster trip penalty, and so forth; while the environmental cost consisted of penalties for both direct and indirect pollutants discharge. Case study showed that the proposed model brought an optimum solution and 2.2% of the total cost could be reduced compared with previous one.

TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE ON THE LOESS PLATEAU OF CHINA TOWARD GREEN DEVELOPMENT

Loess Plateau of China is a typical dryland agricultural area.Agriculture there has transformed from food shortage toward green development over the past seven decades,and has achieved world-renowned achievements.During1950–1980,the population increased from 42 to 77 million,increasing grain production to meet food demand of rapid population growth was the greatest challenge.Engineering measures such as terracing and check-dam were the crucial strategies to increase crop production.From 1981 to 2000,most of agronomic measures played a key role in increasing crops yield,and a series of policy support has benefited millions of smallholders.As expected,these measures and policies greatly increased crop production and basically achieved food security;but,low per capita GDP(only about 620 USD in 2000)was still a big challenge.During 2001–2015,the increase in agricultural and non-agricultural income together supported the increase in farmer income to5781 USD·yr^(–1).Intensive agriculture that relies heavily on chemicals increased crop productivity by 56%.Steadfast policy support such as"Grain for Green Program"had an overwhelming advantage in protecting the natural ecological environment.In the new era,the integration of science and technology innovations,policy support and positive societal factors will be the golden key to further improve food production,protect environment,and increase smallholder income.

Universal generating function based probabilistic production simulation for wind power integrated power systems

According to the demand of sustainable development and low-carbon electricity, it is important to develop clean resources and optimize scheduling generation mix. Firstly, a novel method for probabilistic production simulation for wind power integrated power systems is proposed based on universal generating function(UGF), which completes the production simulation with the chronological wind power and load demand. Secondly,multiple-period multiple-state wind power model and multiple-state thermal unit power model are adopted, and both thermal power and wind power are coordinately scheduled by the comprehensive cost including economic cost and environmental cost. Furthermore, the accommodation and curtailment of wind power is synergistically considered according to the available regulation capability of conventional generators in operation. Finally, the proposed method is verified and compared with conventional convolution method in the improved IEEE-RTS 79 system.