Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China

Coal cities are an essential impetus for economic development and urbanization processes in China. However, a series of environmental issues provoked by resource exploitation cause the environmental sustainability of coal cities to face enormous challenges. Therefore, on the basis of the time series...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaowei Zhai, Zhuo Cheng, Keyu Ai, Bo Shang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/10/2470
_version_ 1797568004888723456
author Xiaowei Zhai
Zhuo Cheng
Keyu Ai
Bo Shang
author_facet Xiaowei Zhai
Zhuo Cheng
Keyu Ai
Bo Shang
author_sort Xiaowei Zhai
collection DOAJ
description Coal cities are an essential impetus for economic development and urbanization processes in China. However, a series of environmental issues provoked by resource exploitation cause the environmental sustainability of coal cities to face enormous challenges. Therefore, on the basis of the time series data of Yulin City from 1996 to 2017, this paper explores the nexus between socioeconomic development and industrial “three wastes” emissions by adopting the Tapio decoupling model, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, and the vector auto-regressive (VAR) model. The results show that Yulin’s economic development remains in an extensive stage and will not decouple from the environmental pollution in a short time. Except for the nexus of industrial solid waste and economic growth, which is an inverted U-shaped, the EKC hypothesis is not valid for industrial wastewater and industrial waste gas. Through the VAR (2) model, the impact of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) on industrial waste emissions is consistent with the results of the EKC hypothesis. Moreover, industrial waste emissions have a positive correlation with the per capita raw coal output, the energy consumption per unit of GDP, and the proportion of secondary industry. Hence, it is necessary to formulate targeted measures from industrial restructuring, industrial chain extension, governance model optimization, and waste comprehensive utilization to realize the environmental sustainability of coal cities.
first_indexed 2024-03-10T19:50:14Z
format Article
id doaj.art-12c267eb1c674aa0a1b0d9c0639ca1c3
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1996-1073
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-10T19:50:14Z
publishDate 2020-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Energies
spelling doaj.art-12c267eb1c674aa0a1b0d9c0639ca1c32023-11-20T00:27:22ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-05-011310247010.3390/en13102470Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, ChinaXiaowei Zhai0Zhuo Cheng1Keyu Ai2Bo Shang3School of Safety and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, ChinaSchool of Safety and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, ChinaSchool of Management, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UKSchool of Safety and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, ChinaCoal cities are an essential impetus for economic development and urbanization processes in China. However, a series of environmental issues provoked by resource exploitation cause the environmental sustainability of coal cities to face enormous challenges. Therefore, on the basis of the time series data of Yulin City from 1996 to 2017, this paper explores the nexus between socioeconomic development and industrial “three wastes” emissions by adopting the Tapio decoupling model, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, and the vector auto-regressive (VAR) model. The results show that Yulin’s economic development remains in an extensive stage and will not decouple from the environmental pollution in a short time. Except for the nexus of industrial solid waste and economic growth, which is an inverted U-shaped, the EKC hypothesis is not valid for industrial wastewater and industrial waste gas. Through the VAR (2) model, the impact of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) on industrial waste emissions is consistent with the results of the EKC hypothesis. Moreover, industrial waste emissions have a positive correlation with the per capita raw coal output, the energy consumption per unit of GDP, and the proportion of secondary industry. Hence, it is necessary to formulate targeted measures from industrial restructuring, industrial chain extension, governance model optimization, and waste comprehensive utilization to realize the environmental sustainability of coal cities.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/10/2470coal cityeconomic developmentenvironmental issueTapio decoupling modelEKC hypothesisVAR model
spellingShingle Xiaowei Zhai
Zhuo Cheng
Keyu Ai
Bo Shang
Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
Energies
coal city
economic development
environmental issue
Tapio decoupling model
EKC hypothesis
VAR model
title Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
title_full Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
title_fullStr Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
title_full_unstemmed Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
title_short Research on Environmental Sustainability of Coal Cities: A Case Study of Yulin, China
title_sort research on environmental sustainability of coal cities a case study of yulin china
topic coal city
economic development
environmental issue
Tapio decoupling model
EKC hypothesis
VAR model
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/10/2470
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaoweizhai researchonenvironmentalsustainabilityofcoalcitiesacasestudyofyulinchina
AT zhuocheng researchonenvironmentalsustainabilityofcoalcitiesacasestudyofyulinchina
AT keyuai researchonenvironmentalsustainabilityofcoalcitiesacasestudyofyulinchina
AT boshang researchonenvironmentalsustainabilityofcoalcitiesacasestudyofyulinchina