Hongyan's project focused on controlling emissions from thermal power plants in China. She wrote a detailed report analyzing existing Chinese environmental laws, regulations, and policy instruments that are applicable to the electric industry, and reviewed local environmental policy experiments sponsored by international organizations. She also examined the problems encountered in environmental policy-making and law enforcement in China. The report will be used to develop recommendations to the Chinese government for internalizing environmental costs into the power price in a competitive power market.

In addition, she studied the feasibility of combining multiple environmental management tools to provide economic incentives for pollution control in China's electric industry. These tools include emission standards, total emission control, emission trading, pollution discharge fees, and using environmental adders to integrate environmental impacts into electricity pricing.

"It will definitely change my life. My summer experience has led me into the energy field. Although I can't predict how it is going to influence my career path exactly, I am very sure that it will lead me to more research or job opportunities in the future for two reasons: 1) the in-depth research made me obtain substantial knowledge on this particular topic, and be prepared for related future work and 2) Barbara Finamore, my primary mentor at the NRDC, has provided many opportunities for me to meet and learn from experts in this field."

—Honyan He