This paper examines the relationship between renewable energy (RE) generation, economic factors, infrastructure, and governance quality in ASEAN countries. Based on the Fixed Effects regression model on panel data spanning the years 2002–2021, results demonstrate that domestic capital investment, foreign direct investment, governance effectiveness, and crude oil price exhibit an inverse yet significant relationship with RE generation. An increase in those factors will lead to a decline in RE generation. Meanwhile, economic growth and infrastructure have a positive relationship, which implies that these factors act as stimulants for RE generation in the region. Hence, it is advisable to prioritise policies that foster economic growth, including offering tax breaks specifically for RE projects. Additionally, it’s crucial to streamline governance processes to facilitate infrastructure conducive to RE generation, along with investing in RE infrastructure. This could be achieved by establishing one-stop centres for consolidating permitting processes, which would streamline the often-bureaucratic process. However, given the extensive time period covered, future research should examine the short-term relationship between the variables to address any potential temporal trends between the factors and RE generation.

The Method of Discretization in Time (MDT) is a hybrid numerical technique intended to alleviate upfront the computational procedure of timedependent partial differential equations of parabolic type upfront. The MDT engenders a sequence of adjoint second order ordinary differential equations, wherein the space coordinate is the independent variable and time becomes an embedded parameter. Essentially, the adjoint second order ordinary differential equations are considered of “quasistationary” nature. In this work, the MDT is used for the analysis of unsteady heat conduction in regular bodies (large wall, long cylinder and sphere) accounting for nearly constant thermophysical properties, uniform initial temperature and surface heat flux. In engineering applications, the surface heat flux is customarily provided by electrical heating, radiative heating and pool fire heating. It is demonstrated that the approximate, semianalytical temperature solutions of the first adjoint “quasistationary” heat conduction equations using the first time jump are easily obtainable for each regular body. For enhanced acccuracy, regression analysis is applied to the deviations of the dimensionless surface temperature as a function of the dimensionless time for each regular body.

Energy systems face serious difficulties due to economic policy uncertainty, which affects consumption trends and makes the shift to sustainability more difficult. While adjusting for economic growth and carbon emissions, this study examines the dynamic relationship between economic policy uncertainty and energy consumption (including renewable and nonrenewable) in China from 1985Q1 to 2023Q4. The research reveals the frequency-specific and time-varying relationships between these variables by employing sophisticated techniques such as Wavelet Cross-Quantile Correlation (WCQC) and Partial WCQC (PWCQC). Economic policy uncertainty and energy consumption do not significantly correlate in the short term; however, over the long term, economic policy uncertainty positively correlates with renewable energy consumption at medium-to-upper quantiles, indicating that it may play a role in encouraging investments in sustainable energy. On the other hand, EPU has a negative correlation with nonrenewable energy usage at lower quantiles, indicating a slow move away from fossil fuels. These results are confirmed by robustness testing with Spearman-based WCQC techniques. The study ends with policy recommendations to maximize economic policy uncertainty’s long-term impacts on renewable energy, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and attain environmental and energy sustainability in China.

The central government of China has intensively guided regional integration and policy coordination towards the development of digital governance in the last ten years. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay was one of the most important regions of China expected to accelerate regional development through policy coordination and establishment of digital infrastructures. This article adopted the method of content analysis to explore the policy transitions of digital governance in the Greater Bay including policy contents (in terms of policy objectives and instruments) and policy networks. Based on our empirical analysis, we found that top-down guidance from the central government did not necessarily generate regional coordination. Different governments of the same region could start policy coordination from shared policy objectives and policy instruments and establish innovative governance frameworks to achieve consensus. Therefore, regional coordination could be fulfilled.

In the context of globalization and urbanization, rural development faces many challenges, such as population loss and uneven distribution of resources. This paper analyzes the similarities and differences in sustainable rural development strategies between China and Europe through a comparative perspective. China has optimized land use by relying on land policy innovations, such as the household contract responsibility system and the “separation of three rights”, as well as the construction of small towns; while Europe focuses on private ownership and market mechanisms, and supports agricultural and rural development through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Using literature review, comparative research and policy analysis, the study shows that the policy innovations in China and Europe, each with its own focus, have been effective in promoting agricultural output and rural social development. Particularly noteworthy is that the “three rights” policy has increased agricultural productivity through the liberalization of management rights, while the European CAP has contributed to the diversification of the rural economy and environmental protection through continuous reforms. This study emphasizes that through policy innovation and international cooperation, combining the strengths of China and Europe, it is possible to provide a new model of sustainable development for the global countryside. Specifically, through the establishment of Sino-European R&D centers for agricultural science and technology, exchange of talents, and cooperation in green infrastructure development, technology transfer and application can be accelerated, cultural exchange and understanding can be promoted, and the sustainable development agenda for global rural areas can be jointly advanced.