Search Results (24)

The distortion of energy prices has become an important obstacle to the high-quality development of China’s economy. Moreover, energy price distortions are not merely a domestic issue. They may trigger carbon leakage by diverting emissions-intensive production to countries with cheaper energy. Although the existing literature has extensively examined the effects of energy price distortions, two significant research gaps remain. First, most studies treat energy price distortions merely as an influencing factor, lacking a systematic analysis that places it at the core. Second, the spatial correlation characteristics of energy price distortions are often overlooked. This study measures the degree of energy price distortions across Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2022 and employs methods such as the Global Moran’s I, Local Moran’s I, and kernel density estimation to systematically analyze the spatial correlation, spatial distribution of coordination indices, and dynamic evolution patterns of these distortions. The results reveal that: (1) the overall degree of energy price distortions in China exhibited a trend of rising first and then declining, with significant regional disparities; (2) the regional gap followed an “expansion-contraction” trajectory; (3) there is notable spatial autocorrelation, with high-distortion areas concentrated in Northeast China, the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and Northwest China; and (4) the dynamic evolution suggests that distortion levels in high- and medium-value regions may continue to decline, while those in low-value regions may increase. This study fills a critical gap in the systematic spatial analysis of energy price distortions and provides new empirical evidence and policy insights for advancing market-oriented reforms in energy markets. Full article

This study explores how carbon pricing and electricity market liberalization jointly contribute to China’s sustainable energy transition. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model (CEEEA2.0), we simulate three policy scenarios—business as usual, emissions trading scheme (ETS) with regulated electricity prices, and ETS with market-based pricing—under a unified emissions cap. The results demonstrate that electricity market liberalization enhances carbon pricing efficiency by eliminating price distortions, leading to a 0.06% increase in GDP and a 12% reduction in emission abatement costs. However, liberalization also raises electricity and consumer prices, disproportionately affecting rural and low-income households. These findings underscore the need to balance economic efficiency and social equity in sustainability-oriented energy reforms. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of designing inclusive and just transition policies to ensure that carbon mitigation efforts support long-term environmental, economic, and social sustainability goals. Full article

The Greek islands have been blessed with excellent wind potential, with hundreds of sites featuring annual average wind velocity higher than 8–10 m/s. Due to specific regulations in the legal framework, some GWs of wind parks have been submitted since the late 2000s by a small number of large investors in the Greek islands, favoring the creation of energy monopolies and imposing serious impacts on natural ecosystems and existing human activities. These projects have caused serious public reactions against renewables, considerably decelerating the energy transition. This article aims to summarize the legal points in the Greek framework that caused this distorted approach and present the imposed potential social and environmental impacts. Energy monopolies distort the electricity wholesale market and lead to energy poverty and a low standard of living by imposing higher electricity procurement prices on the final users. The occupation of entire insular geographical territories by large wind park projects causes important deterioration of the natural environment, which, in turn, leads to loss of local occupations, urbanization, and migration by affecting negatively the countryside life. Serious concerns from the local population are clearly revealed through an accomplished statistical survey as well as a clear intention to be engaged in future wind park projects initiated by local stakeholders. The article is integrated with specific proposed measures and actions toward the rational development of renewable energy projects. These refer mainly on the formulation of a truly supportive and just legal framework aiming at remedying the currently formulated situation and the strengthening of the energy communities’ role, such as through licensing priorities, funding mechanisms, and tools, as well as additional initiatives such as capacity-building activities, pilot projects, and extensive activation of local citizens. Energy communities and local stakeholders should be involved in the overall process, from the planning to the construction and operation phase. Full article

The inefficient allocation of resources in agricultural production not only affects the quality of agricultural development and the efficiency of resource utilization but also represents a pivotal issue that constrains the sustainable progress of agriculture. Considering the urgent societal need for the optimization and advancement of industries, investigating the issue of resource misallocation within agricultural production and its specific losses on AGTFP is profoundly important in advancing the pursuit of high-quality and sustainable agricultural development. This study employs the Cobb–Douglas function and the theory of price distortion to establish a model for quantifying losses in Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity (AGTFP). Drawing on provincial panel data from North China spanning the years 2006 to 2022, we analyze the characteristics of resource allocation and the corresponding losses in AGTFP. The findings suggest that AGTFP in North China has been gradually rising, accompanied by notable regional disparities in both the level of AGTFP and its growth rate. Nevertheless, due to the varying effects of distorted agricultural input factors, there exists different resource misallocation across North China. Despite some improvement in resource misallocation, this improvement has not been significant. Consequently, there is a loss of AGTFP in the North China region. If resource misallocation is effectively addressed, AGTFP losses could be reduced by at least 29%. It is anticipated that over the course of the next decade, AGTFP will rise and resource misallocation and AGTFP losses will diminish slightly, and it is crucial to step up efforts to enhance resource allocation. By ensuring adequate agricultural funding, enhancing agricultural efficiency, and optimizing energy inputs, it is possible to mitigate resource misallocation, thereby effectively diminishing AGTFP losses and fostering the sustainable advancement of agriculture. Full article

The main purpose of this study is to characterize the nature of the low-energy singlet excited states of the anthranilic acid homodimer (AA₂) and their changes (symmetry breaking) caused by deformation of the centrosymmetric, ground state structure of AA₂ towards the geometry of the S₁ state. We employ both the correlated ab initio methods (approximate Coupled Clusters Singles and Doubles—CC2 and CASSCF/NEVPT2) as well as the DFT/TDDFT calculations with two exchange–correlation functionals, i.e., B3LYP and CAM-B3LYP. The composition of the wavefunctions is investigated using the one-electron transition density matrix and difference density maps. We demonstrate that in the case of AA₂, small asymmetric distortions of geometry bring about unproportionally large changes in the excited state wavefunctions. We further provide comprehensive characterization of the AA₂ electronic structure, showing that the excitation is nearly completely localized on one of the monomers, which stands in agreement with the experimental evidence. The excitation increases the π-electronic coupling of the substituents and the aromatic ring, but only in the excited monomer, while the changes in the electronic structure of the unexcited monomer are negligible (after geometry relaxation). The increased electronic density strengthens both intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds formed by the carbonyl oxygen atom of the excited monomer, making them significantly stronger than in the ground state. Although the overall pattern of changes remains qualitatively consistent across all methods employed, CC2 predicts more pronounced excitation-induced modifications of the electronic structure compared to the more routinely used TDDFT approach. The most important deficiency of the B3LYP functional in the present context is locating two charge-transfer states at erroneously low energies, in close proximity of the S₁ and S₂ states. The range-corrected CAM-B3LYP exchange–correlation functional gives a considerably improved description of the CT states at the price of overshot excitation energies. Full article

With a primary focus of achieving carbon neutrality, the energy-intensive industrial sectors (EIIs) contribute to more than half of China’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. During the process of China’s rapid economic development, distorted energy prices gradually became the main obstacle to energy conservation and emission reductions in the EIIs. Therefore, this study focused on determining the mechanisms affecting the energy price distortions of carbon emission efficiency (CEE) in China’s EIIs. Based on a stochastic frontier analysis, the changing trend of CEE in China’s EIIs was evaluated. The channels impacting the energy price distortions of CEE were further analyzed by a mediating effect and moderated mediating effect model. The main contributions and findings include the following: energy price distortions have a significant negative impact on CEE by suppressing technological innovations and hindering the restructuring of energy consumption; governmental environmental regulatory policies mitigate their suppressing effect on technological innovations and reduce the preventing effect by improving the energy consumption structure. The results suggest that market-based price reforms and moderate environmental regulation by the government could help to improve CEE in China’s EIIs. These findings are of great significance for promoting the sustainable development of the energy-intensive industrial sectors and achieving carbon neutrality. Full article

This study examines the relationship between CO₂ emissions and economic factors in the hospitality industry, covering the period from January 2000 to December 2021. The research findings reveal an association between prices, fiscal and monetary factors, and wages in the hospitality industry. CO₂ emissions contribute to environmental degradation and are among the external variables. To test the validity of their hypotheses, the researchers employ the principal components analysis method, using two main components and new regressors to explain most of the variances in a sample of 18 variables. The study employs monthly time series data to explore the links between the variables in the hospitality industry. The study results reveal a connection between shocks during the analysed period and increased CO₂ emissions. The period under review includes Slovenia’s European accession in 2004, adoption of the Euro in 2007, the financial crises in 2008/2009, economic expansion in the previous decade, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of energy distortions. The study’s primary application involves processing 264 monthly observations, which provide an essential time series vector. The discussion section delves into the country’s sustainable tourism development concept, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Key Action 12. Full article

A range criterion of discounted costs is proposed, which takes into account all costs for a speed-controlled asynchronous electric drive, including its price, costs of losses and maintenance, and amortization charges. It is also possible to take into account the cost and energy performance of matching transformers and gearboxes. Costs for reactive power compensation of both the first and second kind (due to the presence of harmonic components at the drive input) are taken into account. The latter requires determining the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the currents consumed by the drive. In the case of autonomous power systems, it is also necessary to determine the drive’s supplying voltage non-linear distortion coefficients. Representing the discounted costs as the sum of initial capital investments and annual costs made possible taking into account the presence of inflationary processes. The control characteristics of the active power consumed by the drive, efficiency, power factor, and phase shift factor are constructed, which are dependencies on the rotation frequency in a certain control range at a specific load. It is proposed to calculate the drive’s discounted costs criterion, depending on the operating mode of the load. According to the mode, the criterion is calculated as an average range in a certain range of speed control or is determined taking into account a given tachogram of speed changes. For the controlled asynchronous drive under consideration, the discounted costs are 4148 c.u. in the first case and 5139.3 c.u. in the second case. If inflationary processes are taken into account, the first case is 4219.4 c.u. and the second case is 5227.7 c.u., respectively. Full article

Factor allocation has an important impact on production efficiency, and this study discusses factor misallocation and proposes an optimized method that could improve efficiency and reduce factor inputs. Under a multi-industry competitive equilibrium model, by introducing distortion tax that represents frictions on factor inputs (capital, labor, energy, and other intermediate consumption), we define factor price distortion indexes to measure factor misallocation and set the standardized comprehensive distortion index at the optimal value of one to obtain optimized allocation of each factor. Using actual and optimized inputs, we compute input-oriented efficiencies separately by employing a slack-based measurement data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA). The superiority of the new allocation method is tested by comparing changes in efficiency and input redundancy before and after optimization. An empirical test based on China’s manufacturing sector during 1999–2016 shows that, under the optimized reallocation, on average, efficiency is improved by 43.40%, capital, labor, energy, and other intermediate consumption are reduced by 18.06%, 16.34%, 30.91%, and 31.24%, respectively, and the total carbon emission is reduced by 55.22% from 2000 to 2016. Our results imply that factor misallocation causes losses in efficiency and excessive input of factors, and factor allocation needs to be further optimized for sustainable development. Full article

Intelligent technology is the core driving force of the fourth industrial revolution, which has an important impact on high-quality economic development. In this paper, the panel data of 30 provinces from 2006 to 2019 were selected to construct a regression model to conduct an empirical analysis on the role and mechanism of intelligent manufacturing in improving total factor energy efficiency. The research results show that first, the productivity effect, scale effect and resource allocation effect of intelligent manufacturing can significantly improve the energy efficiency of the total factor, and the conclusion is still established after endogenous treatment and robustness testing. Second, the results of the action mechanism show that labor price distortion and carbon emission trading policy are important mechanisms for intelligent manufacturing to improve total-factor energy efficiency. Specifically, the corrected labor price can enhance the motivation of enterprise research and development and innovation and solve the dilemma of the low-end industrial structure, thus improving the efficiency of total-factor energy efficiency. The carbon emission trading policy strengthens the willingness of enterprises to improve the process, eliminate backward equipment and increase the research and development of green technology, and it has a positive regulatory role in the process of improving total-factor energy efficiency in intelligent manufacturing. Full article

The use of renewable resources has been on the rise in recent years. The use of renewable resources is also related to state support, either in the form of a fixed price for the purchase of energy or in the form of direct investment aid. The present article analyzed the use of RES in the Czech Republic and the number of installations depending on state support, which represents a significant factor affecting the end user. The article presented the development of the legislative framework that formed the basis of RES support during the years since independence and the country’s entry into the EU. The breaking points of support, when support was increased, and the impact of this support on the number of new installations were indicated. The development of energy production from RES was analyzed on the basis of historical data. A numerical model using a neural network was developed to illustrate the impact of government measures. The time interval for training the network was chosen on the basis of legislative changes, while the possible course was monitored if the change did not occur, or if the support remained the same. The results of the numerical simulation point to the fact that without adequate legislation and state support, there would probably not be an expansion of the use of RES. On the other hand, if the initial high support were to remain, there would probably be a significant distortion of the energy market. Finally, a prediction for the near future was presented, while a stabilization of the situation was assumed. Full article

Despite market-oriented reforms, China’s energy sector is subject to energy price distortions, which are believed to be a crucial determinants of energy efficiency in China. This paper investigates the impact of energy price distortions on energy efficiency in China from the perspective of spatial correlation. Using the nonradial directional distance function approach, we first estimate the provincial-level energy efficiency in China. Paying attention to spatial correlation among the provinces of China, in stage two, we identify the determinants of energy efficiency. Our empirical results suggest that price distortions have a significant impact on energy efficiency in China. This impact holds when the cross-region effect is considered, i.e., besides its own energy price distortion, a region’s energy efficiency is also correlated to the adjacent provinces’ energy price distortions. Furthermore, we found that the levels of energy efficiencies in adjacent provinces are highly correlated. This spatial relationship can be decomposed into the ‘spillover effect’ and ‘warning effect’. These two effects work together, determining the spatial relationship among the province-level energy efficiencies. Full article

The energy transition, a process in which fossil fuels are being replaced by cleaner sources of energy, comes with many challenges. The intrinsic uncertainty associated with renewable energy sources has led to a search for complementary technologies to tackle those issues. In recent years, the use of electric vehicles (EVs) has been studied as an alternative for storage, leading to a much more complex market structure. Small participants are now willing to provide energy, helping to keep the desired balance of supply and demand. In this paper, we analyse the electricity spot market, providing a model where EVs decide to participate depending on the underlying conditions. We study pricing rules adapted from versions currently in use in electricity markets, and focus on two of them for our experimental settings: integer programming (IP) and extended locational marginal (ELM) pricing. We particularly pay attention to the properties those prices might satisfy, and numerically test them under some scenarios representing different levels of participation of EVs and an active demand side. Our results suggest that IP pricing generally derives larger individual uplift payments and further produces public prices that are not well aligned with the final payments of market participants, leading to distortions in the market. Full article

China’s energy market reform is characterized by “asymmetry” as a result of the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, leading to typical distortions in energy prices. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces during 2006–2018, this paper examines the impact of the price distortions of fossil energy sources (coal, oil, and natural gas) as well as renewable energy on China’s economic growth and carbon emissions. The results show that coal price distortion is the highest among the fossil energy sources, followed by oil and natural gas. Renewable energy price is positively distorted. Not all price distortions of energy sources significantly impede economic growth—only those of coal and renewable energy. In contrast, oil and natural gas price distortions promote economic growth. All four energy price distortions contribute significantly to the increase in carbon emissions. Further analysis reveals that regional heterogeneity exists in the impact of energy price distortions on economic growth and carbon emissions. Additionally, this study finds that technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading, the investment effect, the optimization of energy consumption structure, and environmental regulations are important transmission mechanisms of energy price distortions affecting China’s economic growth and carbon emissions. The findings of this study can help us to understand the relationship between energy price distortions and China’s economic growth and carbon emissions, and provide a reference for formulating energy price reform policies that benefit the win-win development of China’s economy and environment. Full article

The petroleum industry faces crucial environmental problems that exacerbate business instability, such as climate change and greenhouse gas emission regulations. Generally, governments focus on pricing, environmental protection, and supply security when developing energy policy. This article evaluates the technical efficiency of 53 oil and gas companies in the United States during the period 1998–2018 using the stochastic frontier analysis methods and investigates the degree to which energy policies influence the efficiency levels in these companies. Our empirical results show that the average technical efficiency of the 53 U.S. oil and gas companies is 0.75 and confirm that prices, production, consumption, and reserves of the U.S. petroleum and gas have a significant influence on technical efficiency levels. Specifically, our findings show that renewable energy and nuclear power contribute to explaining the distortion between the optimal and observed output of the U.S. oil and gas companies. Full article