Emergy based sustainability evaluation for Yunnan Province, China

Chen, Wei; Zhong, Shengyi; Geng, Yong; Chen, Yihui; Cui, Xiaowei; Wu, Qi; Pan, Hengyu; Wu, Rui; Sun, Lu; Tian, Xu

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.136

Cited by 57 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The ELR values calculated here for AP, ASP, PP, PPP, PRP were all higher than the overall level for Yunnan Province [50], which indicated that, in this study, these patterns showed higher pressure on the environment than the average load in Yunnan Province. Our data is inconsistent with the orientation of the agricultural planting pattern and needs to be improved as soon as possible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 42%

Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China

Zou

Zeng

Wang

et al. 2019

Forests

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As a vast degraded land ecosystem, the karst region of southwest China is currently experiencing serious conflicts between restoration of degraded vegetation communities and agricultural activities. Furthermore, it is not clear what land use pattern suits local farmers best. To evaluate the sustainability of the degraded agricultural ecosystems in the region, methods for emergy analysis were used to compare the ecological and economic benefits from seven typical agroforestry planting patterns in the Yunnan province. The eco-efficiencies of the apple pattern (AP), pear pattern (PP), pomegranate pattern (PRP) were all lower than that of the traditional corn pattern (CP), although the economic benefit was higher than that of CP. Ecological benefits of the apple-soybean pattern (ASP) and the pear-pumpkin pattern (PPP) were not significantly improved, while ecological and economic benefits of the pomegranate-grass-sheep pattern (PGSP) was improved significantly. Intercropping pumpkin in PP increased the economic efficiency by 28.3%, which was superior to that of the intercropping of soybeans (4.6%) in AP. These data implied that interplanting crops in AP and PP might result in higher economic benefit than the existing interplanting pattern. The multistory agroforestry planting pattern and raising in PGSP could optimize the relationship among tree-grass-sheep and improve ecological and economic benefits. Additionally, scenario analysis showed that local farmers might enjoy better ecological and economic benefits at a large scale by optimizing current agricultural production patterns. Our results suggest that together, both the local government and farmers can adjust the structure of agroforestry ecosystems to foster the sustainable development of the ecological industry in the karst region of China.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 42%

Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China

Zou

Zeng

Wang

et al. 2019

Forests

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“…Chen et al () stated that emergy‐based indicators reflect the high dependence of economic development in China's Yunnan Province on the local ecosystem, which is far from being sustainable development. They provided policy recommendations for improving the province's sustainable development, such as promoting a circular economy and adjusting the industrial structure.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable consumption in China: New trends and research interests

Shao

2019

Bus Strat Env

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China is currently the largest CO2 emitter in the world and demonstrates one of the highest levels of energy consumption. The sustainable consumption behavior has increased in China, especially in urban cities. Some clear evidence of this includes food purchasing behavior. Recent studies have also suggested that considering full product information transparency, consumers are willing to pay premium prices for products. With this in mind, sustainable consumption must still be facilitated by related policies, regulations, and tools. This study focuses on sustainable consumption behavior in China and collects and analyzes the literature from the last decade (2007–2017) on the topic. In so doing, it highlights new trends and research topics against the background of circular economy development. The method of systematic review is applied. The review is categorized into several main groups: national policies and regulations, the green awareness of consumers, the definition of related concepts, the barriers between sustainable consumption and the circular economy, and the indicators for circular economy assessment in China. Future research directions are discussed. Furthermore, future challenges are addressed from three perspectives: sustainable consumption facilitating the circular economy, “cradle‐to‐cradle” practices, and the link between the European Union and China. This is a fundamental study in the research domain of sustainable consumption behavior. It provides added value that benefits both academic researchers and decision makers. It also sheds light on the further study of sustainable consumption behavior in China from a macroeconomic perspective.

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“…Afterward, the EMR for the ecological-economic system of Lishui City (the total emergy/year GDP, the unit: sej/¥) can be applied to calculate its emergy. According to the statistical energy conversion coefficient and UEVs [13,20,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] in Lishui's statistics and literature, its total emergy in 2017 was 8.95 × 1022 sej, which has led to an EMR of 7.45 × 1011 sej/yuan for the region's system.…”

Section: Uevs and Emrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Assessment of a Qingyuan Mushroom Culture System Based on Emergy

Lai

Liu

et al. 2019

Sustainability

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The Qingyuan mushroom culture system (QMCS) in Zhejiang Province has been recognized as the source of the world’s first artificial cultivation of mushrooms with a history of more than 800 years. The system embodies the farming wisdom of the local people who have adapted themselves to and utilized nature and has integrated the traditional bark hacking method with multiple modern patterns for mushroom cultivation based on artificial microbial strains. We have investigated the input–output operation of farmers and assessed and analyzed emergy indicators in a bid to reflect and compare their economic and ecological benefits, as well as their sustainable development by analyzing the three typical mushroom cultivation patterns. The cost-benefit analysis of the three patterns shows that the sawdust medium-cultivated method (SMCM) is characterized by dominance in both net income without labor cost and labor productivity; while the evaluation based on emergy indicators has proven that each has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of ecological and economic benefits and sustainable development. Among them, the bark hacking method (BHM) features the highest utilization rates of local and renewable resources, the smallest damage to the environment, the lowest production efficiency, and the highest exchange efficiency, but the sawdust medium-cultivated method is just the opposite, and the log-cultivated method (LCM) is the most favorable one for sustainable development. As its agricultural heritage, the QMCS’ core of dynamic protection and adaptive management lies in enhancing the sustainable development of its agricultural production methods. It is recommended that the three patterns be improved by targeting their respective shortcomings and at the same time, integrate their advantages to explore a new sustainable development pattern for mushroom cultivation.

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Emergy based sustainability evaluation for Yunnan Province, China

Cited by 57 publications

References 36 publications

Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China

Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China

Sustainable consumption in China: New trends and research interests

Sustainability Assessment of a Qingyuan Mushroom Culture System Based on Emergy

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