Towards synergy: network facility development, whole process carbon reduction and pollution reduction, and regional disparities.

The in-depth implementation of the "Broadband China Strategy" is of great significance in promoting the synergistic governance of urban carbon reduction and pollution reduction. In this paper, based on the "Broadband China" pilot program implemented in China in 2014 as a quasi-natural experiment, the coupled synergy model is used to measure the carbon and pollution reduction synergy index based on the balanced panel data of 277 prefectural-level cities and above in China from 2006 to 2020, and the staggered and synthetic DID methods are applied to investigate the impact of the Broadband China strategy on carbon and pollution reduction synergy and its mechanism. strategy on carbon and pollution reduction synergy and its mechanism. The conclusions of the study show that (1) the Broadband China strategy significantly improves the synergistic governance of carbon reduction and pollution reduction. (2) The mechanism results show that Broadband China mainly realizes carbon and pollution synergistic governance by promoting source control and process innovation but does not have an effective mediating role in end-of-pipe treatment. (3) The results of heterogeneity analysis show that Broadband China weakens the traditional geographic advantage, narrows the carbon pollution synergistic governance gap at the national and regional levels, and significantly improves the regional carbon reduction and pollution reduction governance level. This paper examines the micro-mechanism of the Broadband China strategy on carbon pollution synergistic governance from the whole process of production activities, which provides a new perspective for the study of carbon pollution synergistic governance, and provides an empirical basis for carbon pollution synergistic governance in China.

Evaluation on evolution of spatial relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is not only an important economic center in China, but also one of the major regions contributing to China's carbon emissions. Revealing the spatial distribution between carbon emissions and economic growth is essential for the formulation of low-carbon development policies. Following the principle from macro to micro, this paper investigates the spatial evolution trend and distribution characteristics between carbon emissions and economic growth in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2005 to 2020 by applying imbalance index model, the rank-scale rule, and decoupling index model. The results show that the imbalance index of carbon emissions decreased between 0.0601 and 0.0533 in a fluctuating way, indicating that the imbalance of spatial distribution of carbon emissions decreases. The imbalance index of economic growth increased between 0.0738 and 0.0851, indicating that economic growth has become more disequilibrated, and the spatial evolution of carbon emissions is not coordinated with economic growth. The Zipf dimension of carbon emissions declined from 1.1806 in 2005 to 0.9594 in 2020, and carbon emissions declined in big cities and increased in cities of the middle order. The Zipf dimension of economic growth increased from 1.1384 in 2005 to 1.2388 in 2020, and the economic growth monopoly in big cities increased. The decoupling coefficient of carbon emissions to economic growth declined, and the driving effect of economic growth on carbon emissions diminished. It is recommended that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should coordinate the allocation of factors and coordinate industrial adjustment. Hebei should accelerate industrial upgrading and establish a diversified industrial system.

Investigating the impacts of poverty alleviation on carbon emissions and its mechanisms.

Exploring the relationship between poverty alleviation and carbon emissions can provide theoretical foundations for inclusive low-carbon development. This study empirically explores the impact of poverty alleviation on carbon emissions and its underlying mechanisms using panel data from Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2020. (1) The benchmark regression results indicate that poverty alleviation increases carbon emissions, and this result is robust. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that promoting the transformation from the primary industry to the secondary industry and fostering consumption growth are important paths for poverty alleviation that promote carbon emissions. (3) Heterogeneity regression results show that effect of poverty alleviation on carbon emissions is more pronounced in impoverished provinces and resource-rich provinces. This study reveals the conflict between poverty alleviation and carbon emissions reduction in China, and reminds the government of the need to implement low-carbon poverty alleviation policies as well as guide people to low-carbon consumption.

Spatial mismatch and its evolution of new energy consumption, industrial structure upgrading, and carbon carrying capacity.

In view of the problems of insufficient exploitation of carbon emission reduction potential and low-carbon emission reduction efficiency caused by the spatial mismatch of economy, society, and ecological environment, this study used the ArcGIS10.8 intuitive expression tool, the barycenter model, and the spatial mismatch index to systematically investigate the spatial-temporal pattern and its spatial mismatch characteristics of new energy consumption, industrial structure upgrading, and carbon carrying capacity in 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2019. The findings of this study included mainly the following aspects. (1) The new energy consumption level showed the significant differences in spatial aggregation. The industrial structure upgrading level decreased from the southeast to the northwest. The carbon carrying state showed the gradual geographical evolution characteristics of the empty load, suitable basic load, suitable load, and overload from the southeast to the northwest. (2) The barycenter of new energy consumption shifted from the south to the north; the barycenter of industrial structure upgrading presented a phased migration trajectory of first to the northwest, then to the south, and then to the southwest; the barycenter of carbon carrying capacity oscillated from the southwest to the northeast. (3) Provinces with the positive mismatch of new energy consumption, industrial structure upgrading, and carbon carrying capacity were widely distributed, but provinces with the negative mismatch were sporadically distributed. The spatial mismatch degree of the three elements tended to expand on the whole, but the direction and magnitude of change were different. The high mismatch areas showed a trend of agglomeration in eastern coastal economic circles such as the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. Moreover, the high mismatch areas showed a trend of westward spread. (4) The contribution of province to the overall spatial mismatch decreased from the eastern to the western. This study would provide a reference for the related research on carbon peaking, carbon neutrality, and the coordinated high-quality development between economy-society and ecological environment.

Digital infrastructure construction, diversified environmental regulation, and dual control of urban carbon emissions-quasi-natural experiment from "broadband China" strategy.

This study used three batches of "broadband China" strategies (BCS) implemented from 2014 to 2016 as quasi-natural experiments (QE) to distinguish the level of urban digital infrastructure construction (DIC). Using 231 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019 as research samples, a progressive differences-in-differences (DID) model was used to empirically test the relationship characteristics between DIC and urban carbon emission (CE) total and intensity. The results show that (1) DIC has a significant negative correlation with total carbon emissions (TCE) and carbon emission intensity (CI), which is conducive to the "dual control" of urban CE, which is still valid after the five robustness tests. (2) The mechanism test shows that the DIC is conducive to improving the level of formal environmental regulation (FER) and informal environmental regulation (IER) and strengthening the synergy between formal and informal environmental regulation (ER), so as to achieve "dual control" of carbon emissions, of which the synergy is the most significant, followed by FER. (3) In heterogeneity research findings, only the third batch of pilot projects can achieve "dual control" of CE, which has the advantage of latecomers. The "dual control" effect of carbon emissions in DIC is more significant in cities with higher levels of marketization and eastern cities. Therefore, DIC plays the role of "icing on the cake," not "providing charcoal in the snow."

Renewable energy technology innovation and inclusive low-carbon development from the perspective of spatiotemporal consistency.

As an emerging driving factor, the positive impact of renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) on inclusive low-carbon development (ILCD) may be undervalued or even neglected. This paper develops an evaluation system to measure China's ILCD by using provincial panel data from 2006 to 2020. Based on the combined perspective of spatial spillover effect and threshold effect, this paper examines the spatial spillover effects and the regional boundary of RETI on ILCD in different periods and further analyzes five heterogeneities. The results show that (1) RETI and ILCD are increasing steadily, presenting a spatial pattern of "high in the east and low in the west." (2) Overall, RETI significantly promotes ILCD in local and neighboring areas. RETI in the growth period inhibits local ILCD, which in the mature period promotes local and neighboring ILCD. (3) The spatial spillover boundary of the whole RETI is 1400 km, that of RETI in the growth period is 1000 km, and that of RETI in the mature period is 1600 km. (4) The promotion effect of RETI on ILCD enhances over time and shows a spatial pattern of "eastern > central > south > north > western." It is further found that RETI strongly promotes ILCD in non-resource-based, high marketization, and strong environmental regulation areas. Therefore, it is necessary to break down administrative and market barriers, strengthen inter-regional cooperation and interconnection of resource elements, and establish a dynamic management mechanism of "one province, one policy" according to the regional heterogeneity for providing decision-making reference in promoting global energy transition and climate governance.

Spatial-temporal differentiation and dynamic spatial convergence of inclusive low-carbon development: evidence from China.

Promoting green and low-carbon development has become a global consensus. However, few studies have explored the scientific connotation and influencing factors of inclusive low-carbon development (ILCD). Based on the perspective of inclusive growth and sustainable development, this paper constructs an economic growth-social inclusion-low carbon development (ESC) analytical framework and uses the improved entropy weight method to estimate the ILCD level of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020. Kernel density estimation, Moran's I index, and Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition are used to characterize the spatial and temporal variation patterns, and the variation coefficient and the dynamic spatial Durbin model are used to explore the dynamic spatial convergence characteristics. The results show that (1) ILCD in China is increasing steadily overall, but there is a significant spatial non-equilibrium characteristic of high in the east and low in the west. (2) The overall difference in ILCD shows a trend of fluctuation and narrowing, and the imbalance between regions is the primary source of the overall difference. (3) ILCD has significant path dependence and dynamic spatial convergence characteristics in the whole country and the three regions, and the spatial spillover effect tends to be good neighborliness. The rate of convergence shows a trend of national (4.77%) > western (2.33%) > eastern (1.97%) > central (0.96%), and the spatial convergence of the club is gradually becoming prominent. (4) The factors including economic development, technological innovation, urbanization level and human capital significantly affect ILCD, which also has regional heterogeneous. Therefore, it is necessary to break down administrative and market barriers, strengthen cross-regional cooperation and resource interconnectivity, and bring into play policy synergy to provide decision-making reference for achieving inclusive low-carbon development.

Decoupling Analysis of Rural Population Change and Rural Electricity Consumption Change in China.

With the accelerated development of urbanization in China, rural permanent population has declined, while rural electricity consumption has increased, resulting in a significant waste of electricity resources. Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2007 to 2020, this paper comprehensively used the decoupling model and the coordination degree model to analyze the temporal change characteristics, spatial distribution characteristics, and the degree of deviation of rural permanent population and rural electricity consumption. Firstly, according to the decoupling model, the type of decoupling between rural electricity consumption and rural permanent population was strong negative decoupling. At the provincial level, Beijing and Tibet belonged to expanding negative decoupling. Tianjin and Liaoning belonged to recession link. The other 27 provinces, including Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong, belonged to strong negative decoupling. Secondly, according to the coordination degree model, the coordination type of the national rural permanent population and rural electricity consumption was uncoordinated. The areas that can be coordinated include 20 provinces, including Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, and Jiangxi. The basic coordination areas included Beijing and Tibet. Finally, according to the comprehensive measurement model, the provinces with strong negative decoupling included Shanxi, Zhejiang, and Chongqing. Sichuan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shaanxi belonged to moderately strong negative decoupling groups.

How does renewable energy technology innovation affect manufacturing carbon intensity in China?

Renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) is a crucial driver for promoting the manufacturing green transformation. However, few studies have explored the impact of RETI on manufacturing carbon intensity (MCI) from the perspective of spatial spillover and regional boundary. Based on the manufacturing panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020, this study examines the mechanism, spatial spillover effects, regional boundaries, and industry heterogeneity of RETI on MCI using the spatial Durbin model. The results show that (1) RETI significantly inhibits local and neighboring MCI. (2) The spatial spillover effect of RETI on MCI has a significant regional boundary, which is inhibitory in the range of 800 km and shows a significant "half-decay" characteristic at 400 km. However, in the range of 800 to 1400 km, RETI significantly promotes neighboring MCI. (3) The inhibitory effect of RETI on MCI has temporal and regional heterogeneity, which gradually increases over time, and the effect from high to low is central, west, and east. (4) RETI has a significant inhibitory effect on MCI of pollution-intensive, high-income, capital-intensive, and labor-intensive manufacturing in local and neighboring areas, but it has a more negligible effect on non-pollution-intensive, low-income, and technology-intensive MCI. The findings provide empirical evidence for formulating targeted and differentiated policy in manufacturing low-carbon development.

Theabrownin isolated from Pu-erh tea regulates Bacteroidetes to improve metabolic syndrome of rats induced by high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt diet.

BACKGROUND: Theabrownin (TB), a high macromolecular compound and a characteristic component of Pu-erh tea, is able to markedly regulate blood lipid and glucose metabolism. We hypothesized that TB could ameliorate metabolic syndrome induced by high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt diet (HFSSD). RESULTS: To test these hypotheses, we fed rats with HFSSD and administered a gavage of TB. HFSSD successfully induced metabolic syndrome in rats. TB significantly improved serum lipid status, prevented obesity and fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (GHbAIc) in rats. After TB intervention, Firmicutes/Bacteroides (F/B) ratio was greatly reduced and showed a dose-effect relationship. TB promoted the reproduction of Bacteroidetes such as prevotella_sp._CAG:1031, prevotella_sp._MGM2 and Bacteroides_sartorii, and inhibited the reproduction of Firmicutes such as roseburia_sp._1XD42-69 and roseburia_sp._831b. CONCLUSION: In HFSSD mode, prevotella_sp._CAG:1031 was one of the main dominant characteristic bacteria of TB targeting regulation, while roseburia_sp._1XD42-69 mainly inhibitory intestinal bacteria, which help to reduce body weight, TG and blood sugar levels of HFSSD rats. Glycerophospholipid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and insulin resistance were the critical pathway. TB has a high application potential in reducing the risk of metabolic diseases. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.