Decoupling pollution-agricultural growth and predicting climate change impacts on decoupling index using Bayesian network in different climatic regions

Decoupling relationship between greenhouse gas emissions from cropland utilization and crop yield in China: implications for green agricultural development

Developing low-carbon utilization of cropland is critical to coordinate agricultural production and environmental protection. Based on a theoretical analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and crop production, this study examined the GHG emissions from cropland utilization in China and the decoupling process from crop yields with consideration of different sources and then explored the driving factors in different regions. The results showed that the GHG emissions from cropland utilization in China rose first and then fell between 2003 and 2020, and the decoupling process has undergone three stages, namely "expansive coupling", "weak decoupling", and "strong decoupling". And the eastern and southern provinces are relatively ahead of the western and northwestern provinces. Additionally, crop yields have been basically decoupled from GHG emissions caused by agricultural inputs, but they were still not decoupled from GHG emissions from cropland in Northeastern and Northern China. Among the influencing factors, utilization efficiency has promoted the decoupling progress, the input structure has played a promoting role in the early stage and hindered it later, and the input intensity and the scale have worked as hindering factors. Policy implications have been proposed to support the sustainable development of agriculture.

Evaluation of water-energy-food-environment-agricultural economic growth nexus integrated approach to achieve sustainable production

Today, growing the production of the agricultural sector in order to meet the increasing demand of food is happening through excessive consumption of water resources, energy, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, especially in developing countries. Therefore, the present study aims to design a new approach for sustainable management of resources and realization of clean production in the agricultural sector. In order to design the new approach of the present study, the integration of two concepts of water-energy-food (WEF) nexus and decoupling pollution-agricultural growth (DEC) was used. The proposed approach is modeled through the multi-objective programming model by optimizing the WEF and DEC indices, which is the first research effort in this field. In this regard, the performance of this approach was evaluated in Jiroft County in Kerman province, Iran. The results of the study showed that the consumption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the optimal pattern with the simultaneous provision of WEF and gross margin (GM) goals (optimal 1) is about 110 kg and 0.19 l per hectare, respectively, more than the proposed pattern (optimal 3). On the other hand, the consumption of water and energy resources in the optimal pattern with the simultaneous provision of DEC and GM goals (optimal 2) is about 8785 cubic meters and 1108 MJ per hectare more than the proposed pattern (optimal 3), respectively. Therefore, this approach, due to the simultaneous integration of two concepts of sustainable development in the agricultural sector, can overcome the weakness of the WEF nexus in not paying attention to the issues of environmental pollution affected by the use of chemical inputs and the weakness of separating pollution-agricultural growth in not paying attention to the management of water and energy resources in the agricultural sector.

An investigation of the relationship among economic growth, agricultural expansion and chemical pollution in Iran through decoupling index analysis

Due to the significant role of agricultural chemicals in increasing agricultural production and ensuring food security, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has been intensified in Iran. These chemical inputs are important environmental pollutants that threaten human health. In the recent years, in agricultural sector, the balance between the growth of agricultural economy and the spread of pollution in Iran has been one of the major challenges. In this regard, the use of decoupling index to decouple the link between agricultural production and pollution caused by the consumption of chemical inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, has been emphasized; Therefore, in the present study, the decoupling index first is calculated in relation to the emission of pollution caused by the use of chemical inputs in the process of agricultural production during the period of 1991-2016 in Iran. Then, by reviewing the existing literature systematically, the factors affecting the decoupling index in the agricultural sector of Iran are evaluated using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results showed that in the recent years, pollution indicators in relation to chemical inputs have not had ideal trends, and despite the further growth of agricultural production, the quality of the environment has experienced a declining trend. The results of the decoupling index related to the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in Iran show that during a period of 26-year, only 5 and 4 years of using these inputs have had a sustainable state compared to the production growth; besides, a strong negative decoupling state occurred as the most unsustainable state in relation to chemical fertilizer for 7 years. Moreover, among the factors affecting the decoupling index, the value-added variable of the agricultural sector has had the most positive effect on this index, and thus, in the long run, it increases the level of pollution in the agricultural sector. The variables of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the area under cereal cultivation in the agricultural sector would also increase the decoupling index. Accordingly, adopting effective strategies to improve resource efficiency, planning for the implementation of biotechnological methods, and doing investment for creating green infrastructure in the agricultural sector can be effective in the ideal decoupling of pollution and agricultural economy growth in Iran.

Development and Opportunities of Clean Energy in China

In the context of the energy crisis and global climate deterioration, the sustainable development of clean energy will become a new direction for future energy development. Based on the development process of clean energy in China in the past ten years, this paper expounds on China’s clean energy policy and development plan. The development of hydropower, wind power, and solar power in China in recent years is analyzed. On this basis, the Grey Forecasting Model is used to forecast the development and structure of China’s clean energy in the next 10 years, point out the direction and market opportunities of China’s clean energy development in the future, and put forward the implementation methods for the sustainable development of China’s clean energy. It provides a reference for the policy decision-making of China’s clean energy development.