Analysis on the Dynamic Evolution of Bioenergy Industry in the Yangtze River Delta Based on Multilevel Social Network Theory

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the evolution of bioenergy from a comprehensive and dynamic perspective and study how stakeholders in the industry exert influence during the development. Taking the development of bioenergy in the Yangtze River Delta as an example, the research builds a dynamic network of bioenergy stakeholders from a social network analysis method. This paper selects six typical cities and six stakeholder groups in the Yangtze River Delta to conduct field surveys and interviews. This study integrates social network analysis with multilevel perspective theory to analyse the evolution of bioenergy from a dynamic perspective. The results show that the relationship among the stakeholders is a network based on central stakeholders involved in the material flow and is affected by multiple peripheral stakeholders. Through the analysis of the dynamic evolution relationship between stakeholders, this paper reveals the existing problems during the development of bioenergy in the Yangtze River Delta. The research results also show that the development of bioenergy has the following characteristics: (i) It is initiated by technological development during the energy transition period; (ii) It is led by policy formulation; (iii) It has evolved with the development of material flow, marketing, infrastructure, and social awareness.

Social Network Relationships between Biomass Industry Stakeholders in the Agricultural Waste Power Generation Industry—A Case of Northern Jiangsu, China

“…The research object was the agricultural and forestry waste power generation industry chain in the bioenergy industry. The research divided the stakeholder groups of the industry into governments, research institutions, associations, biomass enterprises, brokers, and farmers [25,26].…”

Assessing the Siting Potential of Low-Carbon Energy Power Plants in the Yangtze River Delta: A GIS-Based Approach

“…The spatial availability of energy resources, especially renewable energy, determines the operating hours and generation capacity of the power plant [14]. For instance, the geographic locations of crop residue supply areas are important for the bioenergy plant siting [15][16][17][18], since the intermediate feedstock transportation influences the supply security of bioenergy resources [19]. Second, to avoid electric curtailment, the siting location of power plants should also consider the local electricity supply-demand market or the accessibility of high voltage power transmission grid [20,21].…”

A life-cycle assessment framework for quantifying the carbon footprint of rural households based on survey data

“…Despite the broad application of LCA in specific individual production processes or aggregated activities, no explicit framework has been designed to assess the carbon footprint of overall household activities based on survey data. The existing research has either focused on specific household activities [8 , 9] , applying statistical data in an input and output approach [10] , or focusing on more macro-level social networks [11] . An overall LCA framework is thus required to quantify the carbon footprint based on both production and consumption activities at the household level.…”