Harvard-China Project Papers Funded by the Harvard Global Institute

The urgent challenge posed by climate change has catalyzed global efforts to transition towards sustainable energy sources, with wind power emerging as a pivotal component. However, the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources has raised concerns about...

The causal impacts of aviation on local air pollution are poorly understood. Leveraging variation in aviation frequency caused by COVID-19 travel restrictions that occurred hundreds of miles away between 2020 and 2022, this study identifies the short-run...

We present evidence on the distortions that arise from imperfect regulations compared with market allocation mechanisms. Using a triple difference strategy, we evaluate the effectiveness of the Energy-Saving Generation Dispatch reform in China, which aims...

The global surge in solar photovoltaic (PV) power has featured spatial specialization from manufacturing to installation along its industrial chain. Yet how to improve PV climate benefits are under-investigated. Here we explore the evolution of net...

The need to make more accurate grain demand (GD) forecasting has become a major topic in the current international grain security discussion. Our research aims to improve short-term GD prediction by establishing a multi-factor model that integrates the...

Climate actions have focused on CO2 mitigation and only some studies of China consider non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), which account for nearly 18% of gross GHG emissions. The economy-wide impact of mitigation covering CO2 and non-CO2 GHGs in China, has...

Offshore wind power, with accelerated declining levelized costs, is emerging as a critical building-block to fully decarbonize the world’s largest CO2 emitter, China. However, system integration barriers as well as system balancing costs have not been...

China forecasts that a 14-fold increase in photovoltaic installations is needed to meet 2060 carbon-neutrality targets. In light of the fact that air pollution impairs photovoltaic performance, pollution control could reduce the installation requirement...

Recent evidence shows that carbon emissions in China are likely to peak ahead of 2030. However, the social and economic impacts of such an early carbon peak have rarely been assessed. Here we focus on the economic costs and health benefits of different...

China, with a heavy dependence on coal power, has announced a clear goal of carbon neutrality by 2060. Electrification of final energy use and high penetration of renewable energy are essential to achieve this. The resulting growth of intermittent...