Environmental impact of energy imports:Natural resources income and natural gas production profitability in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Countries

Environmental degradation is a pressing global concern,with the energy sector being one of the major contributors to this issue.The environmental impact of energy imports,particularly regarding natural resources income and natural gas production profitability,cannot be ignored.Countries must assess the environmental consequences of their energy choices and take steps to minimize their impact.By transitioning to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources,countries can ensure a better future for the environment and their economies.This study examines the impact of energy imports and natural resources income on environmental degradation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC)countries from 1990 to 2020,using revenue minus the production cost of natural gas and electricity production from renewable sources as moderating variables.Long-run estimates are derived using the Generalized Method of Moments and robust least squares.Our findings elucidate that importing energy from countries specializing in renewable energy can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.This diversification of energy sources decreases the overall carbon footprint and contributes to a cleaner environment.Natural gas production often involves infrastructure construction,such as drilling rigs and pipelines,which can disrupt natural habitats and wildlife corridors.This destruction of ecosystems can have long-term consequences on biodiversity and ecological balance.The environmental impact of energy imports,particularly related to natural resource income and natural gas production profitability,requires BRICS countries to take proactive measures.These nations can address the environmental challenges associated with their energy demands by implementing policies prioritizing sustainable resource management,carbon pricing,stringent regulation,and investment in research and development.By doing so,they can balance economic growth and environmental sustainability,ensuring a greener future for the BRICS countries.

Study on China＇s Economic Vulnerability to Energy Import Using Decomposition Method

Vulnerability means the degree to which that a system is susceptible to suffer damage. This paper focuses on the economic vulnerability to risk of energy import by employing ratio of net energy import to GDP as indicator, and decomposes the vulnerability change into effects of energy import, structure and intensity in order to find out key factors that influence economic security to energy import. Decomposition analysis on China indicates that effect of rising energy import takes more than 90 percent of total vulnerability change during the last 10 years, along with insignificant effect of structural change and intensity decline. International analysis on cross- section data of net energy importers also presents the positive relationship between external energy dependence and economic vulnerability. However, results of America show that long-term effect of energy intensity is much larger than China from 1954 to 2007, which is 70.8% of its total vulnerability change. Experience from developed countries confirms the necessary and validity of improving energy efficiency on depressing economic vulnerability to energy import, which provides lessons for the energy development of China.

Nuclear Power——China's Important Energy Pillar

Nuclear power will be a must for Chinafor its energy development to meet thelarge energy demand of its hugepopulation and rapid economic development. China’s self-designed Qinshan NuclearPower Station of 300,000 kw is now runningsmoothly.Its power generation units’ loadfactor was 66 percent in 1993 and 68 percentin 1994.Through examination andmeasurement,it can be certain that the designand manufacture quality of China-made fuelauxiliaries,steam generators and turbo-generation units at the station are reliableand satisfactory,with its radiative materialdischarge to the environment far below thenational level,not affecting the ambientenvironment radiative level.In July,1995,the Qinshan Nuclear Power Station wasaccepted by the State,enabling China

Fold catastrophe model of dynamic pillar failure in asymmetric mining

A rock burst disaster not only destroys the pit facilities and results in economic loss but it also threatens the life of the miners. Pillar rock burst has a higher frequency of occurrence in the pit compared to other kinds of rock burst. Understanding the cause, magnitude and prevention of pillar rock burst is a significant undertaking. Equations describing the bending moment and displacement of the rock beam in asymmetric mining have been deduced for simplified asymmetric beam-pillar systems. Using the symbolic operation software MAPLE 9.5 a catastrophe model of the dynamic failure of an asymmetric rock-beam pillar system has been established. The differential form of the total potential function deduced from the law of conservation of energy was used for this deduction. The critical conditions and the initial and final positions of the pillar during failure have been given in analytical form. The amount of elastic energy released by the rock beam at the instant of failure is determined as well as. A diagrammatic form showing the pillar failure was plotted using MATLAB software. This plot contains a wealth of information and is important for understanding the behavior during each deformation phase of the rock-beam pillar system. The graphic also aids in distinguishing the equivalent stiffness of the rock beam in different directions.

Fold catastrophe model of strike-slip fault earthquake

Using a differential form of the potential energy function and taking the effect of work applied by external force in far field into account, the mechanism of strike-slip fault earthquake is analyzed. The research indicates that each characteristic displayed with a fold catastrophe model in the catastrophe theory corresPonds to a specific primary characteristic of the strike-slip fault earthquake. The fold catastrophe can describe the positions of starting and end points of a fault failure and the distance of fault dislocation. These include the description of stability of the surrounding rock-fault system before and after the earthquake. Two different illustrations about elastic energy releasing amount of the surrounding rock with the fault failure are shown with the primary characteristics mutually demonstrated. The intensity of strike-slip fault earthquake is related to the surrounding rock press and the stiffness ratio of surrounding rock and fault. The larger the surrounding rock press, the smaller the stiffness ratio. The larger the included angle between the tangential stress axis and the causative fault surface, the stronger the earthquake.

Kazakhstan-China Pipeline Pours 4 Million Tons of Oil into China in 1st Year

China has imported 4 million tons of oil through the Kazakhstan-China pipeline in its first year of operation, customs officials said.