| Coal resources are the most dependent fossil fuels in human socio-economic development, and the most important energy bases in industrial society development. Since the Industrial Revolution happened in Britain in the 18th century, coal resources have become the crucial guarantee for the industrial civilization in modern times. In recent years, along with the deepening of exploitation and utilization of oil and natural gas resources, the proportion of coal resources to primary energy consumption structure gradually decreased, but the position as a fundamental energy is still deeply entrenched. This is reflected in China far more obviously. The coal resources have always been the most dependent primary energy in China. In China's primary energy consumption structure, the share of coal resources has always been maintained at about 70%, and our energy endowments with"rich coal, poor oil, less gas"determine that the important position of coal resources will not be shaken in a rather long period of the future. From this point of view, the sustainable utilization of coal resources in China will have an important effect on practicing the scientific concept of development, implementing the Copenhagen World Climate Change Conference commitment and achieving the goal of building sustainable socio-economic development.As fossil energy, coal and natural resources have immutable natural properties, which also decide the economic characteristics of coal resources shown in the production and consumption processes, such as scarcity, quasi-public goods, environmental negative externalities, the high cost of"precipitation", and so on. The economic characteristics determine the important influence that coal resources production and utilization have on socio-economic sustainable development, specifically can be summarized as"dual constraints": one is the scarcity and diversity of coal resources use value; the other is the negative externality and environmental carrying capacity of coal resources production and consumption. The significance of the sustainable utilization of coal resources lies in achieving the sustainability of human economic development and realizing the ecological sustainability of environmental development and performing the agreement of economic development and environmental protection. The respect for coal resources scarcity and ecological carrying capacity constraints are just the basic rules to achieve the sustainable utilization of coal resources.Concerning the sustainable utilization of exhaustible resources, such as the coal, Hotelling(1931), etc. explore a series of documents in depth and highlight the corresponding issues and policy recommendations from different perspectives. Combined with the current situation of China's coal resources market development, this paper views that the deficiencies of coal resources market structure are the key to contribute to the unreasonable pricing of China, but the wrong pricing mechanism can not achieve the efficient allocation of coal resources, resulting in the losses in both economic and environmental benefits, and finally it forms the situation that China's coal resources can not realize the sustainable utilization. Under these circumstances, China's natural environment deteriorates and resource-exhausted cities frequently emerge. The status quo is embarrassing.Based on methods of exhaustible resource economics analysis, this paper uses mathematical analysis and empirical analysis to confirm the inefficiencies of the coal resources market in China, and it proposes the construction direction of China's coal resources market; and on this basis, it explores the reasonable price of coal resources further .In view of the above ideas, the following six chapters constitute the body of the paper: Chapter 1, review and synthesis about exhaustible resources economic theory. Coal resources, as a special kind of exhaustible resources, have generally the basic properties of the exhaustible of resources. This determines the economics research on coal resources can not be divorced from the paradigm of exhaustible resources economic theory. The economic researches on production and consumption of exhaustible resources can derive from the human thinking that natural resources are the constraints of economic development. In the process that human beings obtain socio-economic resources from the nature and put them into the production procedures, economists gradually deepen their understanding on the economic attributes of natural resources. From the basic role of natural resources to the economic growth under resource constraints, from the search for the alternative resources to inter-generational equitable distribution of exhaustible resources, without exception, it reflects the profound wisdom and keen insight of economists in each period, also shows the evolution of economic theory responds to the development of the times. This chapter, which is an overview of exhaustible resources economic theory ,takes the time sequence of economic thought development as a clue, firstly reviews the natural resources concept of the western classical economics school, and learns from the Marxist natural resources concept, and sorts out contemporary domestic and foreign economic theory of exhaustible resources under the neo-classical paradigm.Chapter 2, analyzes the connotation of coal resources sustainable utilization. As a major energy source that human beings depend on in the economic development, coal resources, like all other economic resources, have the social-oriented economic characteristics besides their natural properties, these economic attributes determine its unique pattern in the market behavior. A deep understanding of the economic laws reveals an important theoretical and practical value for the sustainable utilization of coal resources. In view of this, the chapter takes a in-depth analysis on the economic properties of coal resources, and on this basis, it views that in the process of production and consumption of coal resources, there are the diversity and scarcity value constraints and negative externalities and the environmental carrying capacity constraints - the so-called"dual constraints"The following parts extend to solve the"dual constraints"existed in production and consumption of coal resources.Chapter 3, surveys the China's coal resources and embodies the dual constraints of sustainable development. Coal resources, as the most dependent primary energy of China, have an important impact on the China's economy. This chapter makes a comprehensive study on the endowments, production, consumption and other aspects of Chinese coal resources to deepen the understanding the significance of coal resources to China's economy. On this basis, this chapter goes further to examines the use state of China's coal resources, analyzes the reasons for the problem, concludes that the long planned economic system causes low efficiency in China's coal resources market, and lays a foundation for further analysis on coal market structure later. The chapter takes empirical research on"dual constraints"existed in the sustainable utilization of coal resources, and confirms the existence objectivity of"dual constraints", while emphasizing the urgency to realize China's coal resources sustainable utilization as soon as possible.Chapter 4, takes comparative study on market efficiency in sustainable development of coal resources and assesses on the effectiveness of the coal market. In 1931, in the classic paper"The Economics of Exhaustible Resources", Hotelling noted that in the exhaustible resource exploitation, the exploiter should bear more than the production costs themselves, that is a violent snatch from future generations consumers and the natural environment. The so-called low price consumers accept in the process of consumption is not a good thing at all. As to this price of natural resources that has been a natural undervalued asset, Hotelling sheds light on that the optimal implementation of production in the traditional theory of economics, will result in a huge waste of exhaustible resources, can not achieve sustainable production and utilization intergenerational equity and the economic compensation of ecological environmental negative externalities. While maintaining a certain degree of monopoly high price plays a positive role in achieving the sustainable utilization of exhaustible resources. Hotelling pointes out that in the view of the traditional micro-economics, the conclusion is not applicable that the perfectly competitive market equilibrium has the highest efficiency in the exhaustible resource market. In this chapter, we take an example of coal resources, respectively make mathematical derivation on resource equilibrium output and prices under the assumption of different market structure, and compare the results in order to find optimal market structure of coal resources sustainable utilization. On this basis, with the quantitative study of China's coal industry market concentration, it concludes that China's coal resources markets are in disorderly competition, and thus the market structure of China's coal resources is not conducive to the sustainable utilization of coal resources.Chapter 5, takes the pricing research under the objective of sustainable development of coal resources. This chapter defines the goals of coal resources pricing, and on this basis, points out that the reasonable price of coal resources are the important guarantee to achieve the sustainable utilization. Finally, the author, from the Marxist theory of resource prices, sort of the constituent elements of the coal resources in price system, combined with the current background, and gives the reasonable price to achieve the sustainable utilization of coal resources, and to crack"dual constraints"reasonable prices in the process of production and consumption of coal resources.Chapter 6, draws conclusions and proposes suggestions. In summary, it gives countermeasures to realize China's coal resources sustainable utilization. This paper argues that the government should actively play the roles of the market watchdog, through improvement of market structure, ensure a reasonable pricing of coal resources, and realize the sustainable utilization of coal resources. To clarify the relationship between ownership of resources, to establish a sound tax system of exhaustible resources, to guide people to establish the concept of sustainable utilization of exhaustible resources, and other means constitute necessary conditions for sustainable utilization of coal resources.In this paper, on the analysis of influences economic growth and the environment have on the coal resources, discusses the issue of coal resources sustainable utilization. Compared with the existing research results, innovations of this article can be summarized as follows:First, as the object of this research, sustainable utilization of coal resources has not yet formed the economics system domestically. The coal resources have a special dual role in social sustainable development. On one hand, this article affirms that the coal resources take basic functions on China's economic growth, conducts an empirical analysis on the effectiveness of coal resources use; On the other hand, it makes use of ecological footprint theory to analyze carrying capacity of ecological environment to coal resources use.Second, domestic scholars take very limited analysis on market structure of coal resources, and the economic analysis of market structure is only confined to the level of experience. In this paper, from the theoretical framework of exhaustible resources, it takes the validity of the coal resources market structure into consideration, in order to get the right access of effectiveness in China's coal resources market.Finally, by analyzing"dual constraints"functions which coal resources take on the socio-economic development, and the differences of coal resources price paths in various market structures, try to establish a scientific and rational pricing system for coal resources, and help to achieve a sustainable utilization of coal resources. Although in the research process of this article, the author relentlessly gives considerations to all respects of the question, but because of unavailability of data, as well as the author's own limitations, there are inevitable satisfactory points in the writing process. These flaws provide a great space and a little learning for the author and other scholars to continue the research in this area. Overall, the author sum up the unsolved issues into the two points for the further study in the future:First, the metrology research on China's coal market structure. The metrology study of market structure requires a lot of statistical data, as well as comparatively complex statistical methods. In the study of this article, the author has examined a large amount of statistical materials, however, the valid data are insufficient to satisfy the requirements of the quantitative study. China's coal market structure can not be measured with statistical methods. This article draws a conclusion that the China's coal market is in disorderly competition, and the conclusions come from the abstract analysis of the concrete market phenomena and simple quantitative analysis. As China's statistical work has been improved gradually and the author will conduct further research in this area.Second, the test on the coals pricing model. This built coal pricing model base on Marxist theory, and is scientifically complementary in the context of a modern market economy. However, due to the unavailability of data, model design can not be tested scientifically, the conclusions of this article will inevitably be a little challenged, which is a pity. The author will always be vigilant in this area in order to test the actual operability of this coal pricing model in follow-up study.
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