United States
£ GBP
The overall goal in this book is to explain key economic, environmental, technology, and transportation factors that are affecting the provincial and industrial energy intensities and environmental pollution in the People's Republic of China (China). The author defines energy intensity as the energy consumption per unit of output. She concentrates on China, because it is the second largest energy user and pollution generator in the world. In this book, the focus is on the cokemaking sector in the Shanxi Province. Cokemaking is the largest consumer of coal in the region, using more than one-half of the coal consumed there.
Throughout the book, the author stresses the important role of the Shanxi Province in encouraging improvements in energy efficiency and pollution by (1) introducing new coke-oven technologies and (2) encouraging pollution-abatement measures for the older ovens. Economic, environmental, technology, transportation, and social aspects of cokemaking are discussed and the author examines how these factors are affecting the energy intensities and pollution in the Shanxi Province.
Preface by Janos M. Beer; preface by Masayoshi Sadakata; 1. Introduction by Karen R. Polenske; 2. The Coke Industry in China, by Chen Xikang, Yang Cuihong, and Li Jinghua; 3. Alternative Cokemaking Technologies in Shanxi Province, by Chen Hao and Karen R. Polenske; 4. Structural Decomposition Analysis, by Wei Guo, Ali Shirvani-Mahdavi, and Karen R. Polenske, 5. Energy and Economic Efficiency Differences Between State-Owned Enterprises and Township and Village Enterprises, by Ali Shirvani-Mahdavi; 6. Modeling Cost and Pollution of Coal and Coke Transportation in Shanxi Province, by Steven Kraines, Yan Chen, and Karen R. Polenske; 7. Human Exposure to Ultra-Fine Particulates in the Cokemaking industry in Shanxi Province, by Qian Zhiqiang, Uli Matter, Hans C. Siegmann, and Karen R. Polenske; Health of a Region: The Socio-Economic Perspective, by H. Erica Chan and Holly Krambeck; Conclusion, by Karen R. Polenske
From the reviews: "This book provides a well-organized and very thorough case study of the evolution of the cokemaking industry in China through a period (1997-2004) of significant industry upheaval and restructuring, both in economic and physical terms. ! this text would make an excellent graduate-level supplement to a 'topics' or 'case studies' course. It does a worthy job of introducing students to the applied analysis of energy efficiency, input-output-based structural decomposition, mechanics of industrial surveys, pollution exposure analysis, and socioeconomic methods and analysis." (David M. Anderson, Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 47 (2), 2007)
