Download the Spring/Summer 2020 newsletter to learn more about the Harvard-China Project's spring semester research and endeavors:

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The below figures show cumulative probability distributions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄), the two leading greenhouse gases, as measured in March of 2019 (red) and 2020 (green) at the Harvard-China Project’s joint observatory with Tsinghua University at Miyun, north of Beijing. Depending on prevailing winds, the site sometimes measures clean background air from the northwest and sometimes polluted air from Beijing and surrounding areas. The lowest parts of the distributions represent background air, which have higher values in...

Yingying Lu
Associate, Harvard-China Project
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design

When Yingying Lu was in elementary school, she was fascinated with fantasy. “Just with a pencil,” says Lu, an associate at the Harvard-China Project and postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), “I was so focused in a dream world...

Hu, Wenhao, Mun S. Ho, and Jing Cao. "Energy consumption of urban households in China." China Economic Review 58 (Dec 2019)

This paper is co-authored by...

HCP Q&A: Dr. Faan Chen, Postdoctoral Fellow

"Driving and the Built Environment:  Is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Effective in Shanghai?"

The rapid growth of Chinese cities, including Shanghai, has presented many challenges for local government officials, planning and transit practitioners, and property developers. These challenges include traffic congestion, energy consumption, and emissions of both air pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO₂), the leading greenhouse gas contributing...

Summary of New Project Publications for Non-Specialists

Publication: Gao et al. 2020. “China's emission control strategies have suppressed unfavorable influences of climate on wintertime PM_2.5 concentrations in Beijing since 2002.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics...

By Bloomberg News

The gusts of wind cascading across China’s seas have the potential to power its populous coastal provinces many times over, a study from Harvard University shows.

Wind farms along the coast could potentially supply 5.4 times more electricity than the current coastal demand...

Download the Winter 2020 newsletter to learn more about the Harvard-China Project's fall semester research and endeavors:

• Valuing...

This fall, the Harvard-China Project hosted an inaugural Photo Contest. Winners in the three categories are:... Read more about Harvard-China Project Photo Contest Winners

Six new fellows joined the Harvard-China Project, and will spend the next year tackling a variety of climate-related issues.... Read more about Harvard-China Project Welcomes New Fellows

Study finds that as cities become wealthier, per capita emissions drop

China, the world’s largest carbon emitter today, may be on track to meet its emission goals up to a decade early, according to a recent study on the cover of Nature Sustainability led by researchers from Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, and Harvard University.

The research focuses the relationship between urban economic growth and CO2 emissions. Fifty cities...

Researchers quantify the region's renewable energy potential

The region covered by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has significant potential to be powered by solar energy, researchers report June 27 in the journal Joule. Less than 4 percent of the maximum solar potential of the region could meet the BRI's electricity demand for 2030. The research suggests a possible solution to reduce BRI countries' need for fossil fuels as they develop. This is the first time the renewable energy potential of the region is quantified.

The Chinese...

This spring our Harvard-China Project researchers led an international effort to analyze the technical and economic viability for China to move towards carbon-negative electric power generation. Their research, which explores utilizing two forms of green energy: coal-bioenergy gasification and carbon capture and storage, was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy...

If we’re going to limit global temperature increases to 2...

On March 7, the Harvard-China Project co-sponsored a panel on the topic of “China and Asia in a Changing Climate: Natural Science for the Non-Scientist” as part of Harvard University Asia Center’s Asia Beyond the Headlines Seminar Series. Harvard-China Project Faculty Chair, Mike McElroy, moderated the discussion. During the panel,...

The Harvard Law School Library, along with the Harvard-China Project, East Asian Legal Studies, and the HLS Environmental Law Society, recently co-hosted Barbara Finamore, senior attorney and Asia senior strategic director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), for a book talk and discussion on her latest release,...

This fall the Harvard-China Project continued its investigations of the “China 2030/2050: Energy and Environmental Challenges for the Future” theme sponsored by the Harvard Global Institute (HGI). Our community reflected on the Summer 2018 Undergrad Research Assistantship program in China, during...

Warming waters in the Indian Ocean is weakening monsoon circulation and decreasing wind speeds

This article, written by Leah Burrows, originally appeared on the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences website. Harvard Magazine also wrote a piece about this research, which can be...

This article by Chris P. Nielsen, China Project Executive Director, and ...