IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i13p5331-d379027.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating China’s Environmental Management and Risks Avoidance Policies and Regulations on Offshore Methane Hydrate Extraction

Author

Listed:
  • Dong Yan

    (Law School, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Beijing 100089, China)

  • Paolo Davide Farah

    (Department of Public Administration, John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
    Center for Innovation in Gas Research and Utilization—CIGRU, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
    Institute of Water Security and Science—IWSS, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
    Energy Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA)

  • Ivana Gaskova

    (gLAWcal–Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, 98 Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 1JS, UK)

  • Carlo Vittorio Giabardo

    (gLAWcal–Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, 98 Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 1JS, UK
    Faculty of Law, Càtedra de Cultura Juridica, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain)

Abstract

Methane hydrates (hereinafter, MH), for many reasons, are widely recognized as a form of sustainable energy due to their environmentally friendly nature. MH, while burning, produce fresh water, which could in turn offer one possible solution to worldwide shortages of water. MH also maintains the capacity to change the landscape of the global energy supply. According to recent scientific evaluations, the potential global supply of MH is even higher than the total storage of traditional crude oil and conventional natural gas. However, its offshore extraction process could be linked to both catastrophic and non-catastrophic events that may contribute to global warming and climate change, cause harm to human health and life, endanger the flora and fauna, and threaten the very global environment as a whole. Therefore, from a legal viewpoint, an efficient and effective system of civil liability rules seem crucial to control the risks, and to compensate the victims to which damages may occur. This article takes into consideration China’s legal framework in assessing the risks connected to MH offshore extraction. Such a choice for examination is justified by China’s leading position for implementing the technology necessary for extracting MH. This analysis shows that China’s current legal instruments are still far from fully equipped to prevent the risks associated with the offshore extraction of MH, as well as to offer effective remedies for the victims once any damages have occurred. Therefore, more efficient measures and remedies should be considered (or even imposed) to address the specific risks of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Indeed, in the past few decades, China’s environmental protection laws and regulations have mainly focused on the environmental risks that may occur during the process of extracting conventional resources; however, they do not address methane hydrates specifically. This presents a legal challenge for environmental protection laws. The potentially catastrophic events that may occur as a result of the offshore MH extraction processes in particular present a legal challenge for environmental protection laws in China and across the globe. Thus, this article focuses on how to prevent these risks before they even occur, followed by a careful attempt to address compensation efforts for any damages caused by said catastrophes.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong Yan & Paolo Davide Farah & Ivana Gaskova & Carlo Vittorio Giabardo, 2020. "Evaluating China’s Environmental Management and Risks Avoidance Policies and Regulations on Offshore Methane Hydrate Extraction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:13:p:5331-:d:379027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/13/5331/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/13/5331/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miao He, 2019. "Sustainable Development through the Right to Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Kim, Nam-Jin & Hwan Lee, Jeong & Cho, Yil Sik & Chun, Wongee, 2010. "Formation enhancement of methane hydrate for natural gas transport and storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 2717-2722.
    3. Lu Feng & Qimei Wu & Weijun Wu & Wenjie Liao, 2020. "Decision-Maker-Oriented VS. Collaboration: China’s Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Daniele Brombal, 2017. "Accuracy of Environmental Monitoring in China: Exploring the Influence of Institutional, Political and Ideological Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Steven Shavell, 1989. "A Note on Optimal Deterrence When Individuals Choose Among Harmful Acts," NBER Working Papers 3061, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Shavell, Steven, 1992. "Liability and the Incentive to Obtain Information about Risk," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 259-270, June.
    7. Ryunosuke Kikuchi, 2005. "Analysis of availability and accessibility of hydrogen production: An approach to a sustainable energy system using methane hydrate resources," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 453-471, January.
    8. Shavell, S., 1986. "The judgment proof problem," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 45-58, June.
    9. Tiantian Zhai & Yen-Chiang Chang, 2019. "The Contribution of China’s Civil Law to Sustainable Development: Progress and Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Mehran Idris Khan & Yen-Chiang Chang, 2018. "Environmental Challenges and Current Practices in China—A Thorough Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, July.
    11. Cheryl S.F. Chi & Jianhua Xu & Lan Xue, 2014. "Public participation in environmental impact assessment for public projects: a case of non-participation," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(9), pages 1422-1440, September.
    12. Shanshan Yang, 2008. "Public Participation In The Chinese Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia) System," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(01), pages 91-113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Yi & Jia, Yuwei & Ling, Sun & Yao, Congxu, 2021. "Urban natural resource accounting based on the system of environmental economic accounting in Northwest China: A case study of Xi’an," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Olga Gaidukova & Sergei Misyura & Pavel Strizhak, 2022. "Key Areas of Gas Hydrates Study: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mondello, Gérard, 2012. "La responsabilité environnementale des prêteurs : difficultés juridiques et ensemble des possibles," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 88(2), pages 257-278, Juin.
    2. Julien Jacob & Caroline Orset, 2020. "Innovation, information, lobby and tort law under uncertainty," Working Papers of BETA 2020-25, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    3. Gérard Mondello, 2013. "Ambiguous Beliefs on Damages and Civil Liability Theories"," Post-Print halshs-00929948, HAL.
    4. Michael Faure, 2009. "Environmental Liability," Chapters, in: Michael Faure (ed.), Tort Law and Economics, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Shiyi Chen & Xiaoxiao Ding & Pingyi Lou & Hong Song, 2022. "New evidence of moral hazard: Environmental liability insurance and firms' environmental performance," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(3), pages 581-613, September.
    6. Gérard Mondello, 2015. "Civil liability, Knight's UnCertainty and non-diCtatorial regUlator Documents de travail GREDEG GREDEG Working Papers Series," Working Papers hal-01251437, HAL.
    7. Guiseppe Dari Mattiaci & F. Parisi, 2003. "The Economics of Tort Law: A Précis," Working Papers 03-13, Utrecht School of Economics.
    8. Requate, Till & Friehe, Tim & Sengupta, Aditi, 2023. "Liability and the incentive to improve information about risk when injurers may be judgment-proof," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Yeon‐Koo Che & Kathryn E. Spier, 2008. "Strategic judgment proofing," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 926-948, December.
    10. Miceli Thomas J. & Segerson Kathleen, 2013. "Liability versus Regulation for Dangerous Products When Consumers Vary in Their Susceptibility to Harm and May Misperceive Risk," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(3), pages 341-355, December.
    11. Yen-Chiang Chang & Mehran Idris Khan, 2021. "May China Fish in the Arctic Ocean?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    12. Chen, Siyuan & Wang, Yanhong & Lang, Xuemei & Fan, Shuanshi & Li, Gang, 2023. "Rapid and high hydrogen storage in epoxycyclopentane hydrate at moderate pressure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    13. Haitao Yin & Alex Pfaff & Howard Kunreuther, 2011. "Can Environmental Insurance Succeed Where Other Strategies Fail? The Case of Underground Storage Tanks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 12-24, January.
    14. Vasiliki Bageri & Yannis Katsoulacos & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2013. "The Distortive Effects of Antitrust Fines Based on Revenue," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 123(11), pages 545-557, November.
    15. Gérard Mondello & Evens Salies, 2016. "Tort law under oligopolistic competition," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03459225, HAL.
    16. Marc Lipsitch & Nicholas G. Evans & Owen Cotton‐Barratt, 2017. "Underprotection of Unpredictable Statistical Lives Compared to Predictable Ones," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(5), pages 893-904, May.
    17. Obara, Shin'ya & Kikuchi, Yoshinobu & Ishikawa, Kyosuke & Kawai, Masahito & Yoshiaki, Kashiwaya, 2015. "Development of a compound energy system for cold region houses using small-scale natural gas cogeneration and a gas hydrate battery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 280-295.
    18. Thomas J. Miceli, 2013. "Collective Responsibility," Working papers 2013-23, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    19. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:11:y:2006:i:1:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Suurmond, Guido, 2007. "The effects of the enforcement strategy," MPRA Paper 21142, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Cremer, Jacques & Khalil, Fahad & Rochet, Jean-Charles, 1998. "Strategic Information Gathering before a Contract Is Offered," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 163-200, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:13:p:5331-:d:379027. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.