The Effect of Carbon Quota Policy on Environmental Sustainability of Power Supply Chain

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors made an interesting effort in the article. I have few questions before I can see the article published:

 

1) In introduction better highlight the literature gap and proposed hypotheses, providing more scientific contextualization

 

2) The results are well written, but lack a discussion section where they are well organized with relevant literature references. 

 

3) Is it possible to make well-defined mentions of policy experiences on carbon management in the conclusions? I am thinking of the European Union's Carbon Farming. 

 

4) The literature used is relevant, but perhaps partial. the entire study of europe and usa is missing. Add. 

 

Try to lower your similarity index in introduction and conclusions.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your suggestions on our manuscript, and we are very sorry that it took us so long to revise it. After receiving your valuable comments, we have read a lot of relevant literature, analyzed and summarized, and thus revised the manuscript. The relevant modification information is in the word document for your review.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research deals with the influence of quota policy on the environmental sustainability of the power supply chain. The article is well-structured and interesting. The authors presented the obtained results interestingly and simply. All mathematical expressions used are well-marked. All figures are well-marked. The recommendation for Figure 1 is defined below. The summary of the article gives insight into the content. Recommendations for future researchers are defined in the conclusion. 

Although the article is well structured, below are recommendations:

Line 11 to line 13: states that global climate change is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. It is recommended to define why, and what are the current consequences of global climate change in the form of temperature increase and the like.

Line 15 to line 20: it is necessary to comment on the issue of green transformation of the supply chain, especially if it concerns extended supply chains in which stakeholders are located in countries that are in transition, i.e. developing countries, and in which the awareness of the need to use green technologies is not emphasized. The problem of climate change can only be solved in a systematic way, and partial solutions such as the green transition of stakeholders who are positioned in, for example, Europe are not enough.

In the introduction, it is necessary to draw attention to the use of electric vehicles and the enhancement of the construction of electric vehicle charging stations. Such stations require significant energy resources and the question arises of how to model the supply chain for the production of sufficient amounts of electricity from environmentally acceptable sources. In the same way, it is necessary to draw attention to the carbon released by the melting of glaciers as well as to all other natural processes and to describe why it is important to reduce carbon emissions from industry and to reduce the impact of carbon emissions from natural processes. Apart from the need for electricity for electric vehicles, the need for clean energy for other consumers of electricity should also be mentioned. It is recommended to give examples of clean sources of electricity.

The article mentions the term clean energy, but nowhere is it defined what it means. Although it is clear to researchers who work in this field what the term refers to, other readers who are not familiar with the subject may have difficulties in fully understanding the term. With this in mind, it is recommended to clearly define clean energy. The same applies to thermal power generation. It should be explained what is the difference between clean energy and thermal power generation. In the text, I did not come across a conceptual definition of the energy supply chain, so the recommendation is to also conceptually define what the energy supply chain is.

Figure 1 is a little blurry. It is recommended to put figures that have a higher resolution. 

In the conclusion, it is necessary to state the limitations of the research and how the authors overcame the identified limitations of the research.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

English language is good. It is recommended to pay attention to the space between the period at the end of the sentence and the new sentence.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your suggestions on our manuscript, and we are very sorry that it took us so long to revise it. After receiving your valuable comments, we have read a lot of relevant literature, analyzed and summarized, and thus revised the manuscript. The relevant modification information is in the word document for your review.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The effect of carbon quota policy on environmental sustainability of power supply chain

Review

This paper analyses the impact of carbon quota policies on the clean transformation of the power industry as carbon emitting industry, establishes a mathematical model, and carries out numerical simulation.

The results show that the effectiveness of carbon quota policies is related to the level of competion within the power supply chain, and also is influenced by the market share of clean energy power generation enterprises.

The article is interesting. However, some information and clarifications would improve the final version.

1.    The novelty and the aim of this research should be more visibly described.

2.       The mathematics, in the cases that they are not deducted by the authors, must show their sources from literature.

3.       All symbols used in equations must be described. Eventually, a nomenclature table would help the reader.

4.       The application of a specific software toolbox for solving the model must be explained.

5.     The state of the art must be enriched, regarding the generation of cleaner electrical energy with diminished emissions versus the minimal cost of electrical energy generation and using multicriteria managerial decisions, such as in https://doi.org/10.3390/en15197019.

 

6.   The big paragraphs must be fragmented to make easier the readability.

7.  Selected study cases with clear examples would help the understanding from the readers’ part.

8.       A comparison with other results from relevant publications would validate the research.

9.     The Conclusions must show recommendations for the environmental aspect of electrical energy generation, how it could become a low carbon emitting industry.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English language is difficult to follow; please edit the syntax, style and terminology.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your suggestions on our manuscript, and we are very sorry that it took us so long to revise it. After receiving your valuable comments, we have read a lot of relevant literature, analyzed and summarized, and thus revised the manuscript. The relevant modification information is in the word document for your review.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors followed the suggestions. The article can be accepted and published in its current form.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript can advance for publication.