ALBERT

Description: Residential energy consumption (REC) is now the second largest energy sector in China. However, decoupling analysis of REC has not received enough attention. Here, we explore the decoupling relationship between REC and economic growth in urban and rural Guangdong from 2000 to 2017. First, we use the Tapio decoupling model to study the decoupling state. Then, key drivers affecting the decoupling were explored by combining the Tapio decoupling model with the Log-mean Divisa Index (LMDI) method. Finally, the decoupling efforts were evaluated by using the decoupling efforts model. The main results are as follows: (1) The decoupling state in urban regions was better than that in rural regions. Urban regions experienced weak decoupling (WD) in most years during 2000–2017, while expansive negative decoupling (END) mostly was seen in rural regions. (2) The per capita income effect was the most important driver inhibiting decoupling in Guangdong urban and rural regions. The energy intensity effect was the biggest driver promoting decoupling in urban Guangdong, followed by the family size effect. In contrast, the family size effect exerted the dominant influence on accelerating the decoupling in rural Guangdong. Overall, the household effect inhibited decoupling in urban regions, but promoted decoupling in rural regions. (3) The decoupling efforts results suggest that the energy efficiency improvement played a major role in the decoupling efforts of urban Guangdong, while the decrease of family size in rural Guangdong was the leading contributor to the decoupling efforts.

Description: Wetlands provide ecosystem services for regional development, and, thus, have considerable economic value. In this study, a combination of evaluation methods was carried out to evaluate the wetland ecosystem services provided by national nature reserves in 11 coastal provinces/municipalities in China. We constructed a literature database containing 808 observations (over 170 papers) on field-scale research for wetlands in China’s coastal zones. Using this literature database, as well as land use (LU) data, net primary productivity (NPP), and statistical data, and digital elevation model (DEM) data, we established a valuation framework and database for nine important ecosystem services of the 13 wetland types in the study area. After the large-scale academic literature review, the ordinary kriging offered by Geostatistical Analyst tools was used to interpolate the physical dimensions of the unmeasured locations. The results showed that: 1) the wetland ecosystem services in 35 national nature reserves have a total value of 33.168 billion USD/year; 2) the values of wetland ecosystem services revealed considerable spatial variability along China’s coastal zones; and 3) assessments provide additional insights into the trade-offs between different ecosystem services and wetland types. The valuation framework and database established in this study can contribute to the mapping of wetland ecosystem services in coastal zones.