• Energy Research

Abstract This study analyzes the determinants of changes in electricity generation intensity in China and further uncovers the reasons for the differences between the changes in electricity generation intensity in the thermal and sustainable power sectors. By developing a factorial-intertemporal nested decomposition technique using the refined Laspeyres index, we demonstrate the contributions of electricity generation structure, electricity generation-to-consumption ratio, production electricity consumption intensity, residential electricity consumption intensity, and electricity consumption loss intensity effects. Although the electricity generation intensity of the thermal power sector has been lower than that of the sustainable power sector, the latter has declined remarkably and has remained the key sector driving the overall changes in electricity generation intensity. Meanwhile, the effect of electricity consumption intensity is the main factor that reduces electricity generation intensity. Moreover, the impact of production electricity consumption intensity in the thermal power sector exceeds its impact in the sustainable power sector. Ultimately, we find that the differences between the changes in electricity generation intensity in the thermal and sustainable power sectors are mainly due to their differences in production electricity consumption intensity.

The increase in coal consumption and its impact on the environment has become a bottleneck that hinders sustainable development. This paper discusses the effect of economic growth and coal intensity on China's coal consumption during 2005-2017 using the Laspeyres index decomposition method. The decoupling of coal consumption from economic growth was examined in conjunction with the Tapio elasticity index, and the decoupling contributions of economic growth and coal intensity are further determined. The results indicated that economic growth drives an increase in coal consumption; however, the contribution rate declines gradually with decrease in economic growth rate in each province. Further research showed that the secondary industry is the main contributor to the increment, and the rapid development of tertiary industry increases indirect coal consumption. Coal intensity has a positive impact on curbing coal consumption, but it is not sufficient to offset the increment generated by the economic effect. Moreover, in each province, the curbing effect gradually decreased as the decline in coal intensity weakened in the secondary industry. Furthermore, coal consumption is weakly decoupled from economic growth over the long term, and the secondary industry will determine the future trend of decoupling.

Abstract Understanding energy-carbon performance (ECP) and its intrinsic characteristics is important for energy saving and emissions reduction in the construction industry. However, few studies have focused on energy or carbon performance simultaneously and their pattern over time. To address this gap, this study investigated the ECP in China’s construction industry and its convergence characteristics across various provinces. We first constructed an ECP index (ECPI) using non-radical directional distance functions for the construction industry during 2003–2016. We then analyzed the convergence of ECPI using the convergence method proposed by Phillis and Sul (2007). The results showed that the overall ECPI was generally stable with some fluctuations over the sampling period, and there was no evidence to support the occurrence of convergence in the ECPI across the sample set. Furthermore, two club convergences of ECPI were recorded. Finally, we propose valuable suggestions for policymakers based on empirical results.

Abstract Given the acceleration of global warming and rising greenhouse gas emissions, all countries are facing the harsh reality of the need to reduce carbon emissions. In this study, we propose an index to quantify the pressure faced by policymakers to reduce such emissions, termed the carbon emissions reduction index. This index allows us to observe the effect of carbon emissions volume on the pressure faced by policymakers and study the impact of optimizing interregional carbon emissions on reducing this pressure. In addition, we account for several carbon emissions standards in constructing the index. We conclude that the variation in the index is likely to be attributable to carbon emissions volume, regional ranking, and population (population can also be replaced by GDP, resource endowment, or other factors). In addition, based on empirical data on the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide (China), this study analyzes the evolution of pressure to reduce emissions on a country’s policymakers. The results show that the growing volume and unsuitable allocation of carbon emissions from 1997 to 2012 imposed increasing pressure on the Chinese government in this regard. In addition, reductions in carbon emissions volume and regional ranking are primary factors that impact pressure on policymakers.

Abstract This paper analyzes the competitiveness and bilateral trade complementarities of BRICS countries (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) with respect to their fossil energy trade and explores the reasons for changes in fossil energy complementarities. By introducing the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method, this study links the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index with the trade complementarity index (TCI), attributing the change in complementarities to export and import revealed comparative advantages associated with both sides. The results show that, in the coal trade among BRICS countries, China’s competitiveness is declining annually while Russia shows an opposite trend. The cooperation between China and Russia has steadily expanded in the crude oil trade. Although India and Russia are highly complementary in the crude oil trade, its drivers are not stable. Finally, in the natural gas trade among BRICS countries, Russia always has a stable and outstanding supply capacity.

Abstract Forest resources are vital to the development of green economics. Given the booming development of China's forestry industry and its ambitious reforestation efforts in the developing world, this paper is the first to use the output distance function to synthetically consider the economic and ecological outputs of China's forestry industry, and discuss its productive efficiency with a stochastic frontier model. Control and environmental variables are incorporated to capture heterogeneity in China's forestry industry, which helps us get an unbiased estimation. The empirical results show that there was no obvious efficiency disparity among China's economic regions except Northeastern China, and the state-owned forestry structure has a significantly negative effect on productive efficiency in China's forestry industry. Moreover, provinces with poor productive performance in the forestry industry such as Inner-Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Hebei have been identified and their individual characteristics regarding productive efficiency have also been analyzed. The findings in this paper have targeted and practical implications for the development of China's forest green economy.

Abstract Ecological balance and carbon sink economies have gained increased attention for tackling global warming. Based on an improved Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach model, this study demonstrated regional Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and analyzed regional carbon overdraft situations in China during 2005–2015. Regional carbon allowances were allocated according to carrying capacity of carbon sequestration and China's carbon intensity reduction goals in “13th Five-year plan”. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technology with panel data was further employed to estimate potential benefits resulting from carbon trading and a carbon sink economy. Regional NPP decreased from south to north and from coast to inland, while regions with severe carbon overdrafts were gathered in North and East China. In order to maintain a regional carbon balance with lower abatement costs, regional cooperation of emission reduction within either North or East China is proposed in this study. It is concluded that the majority of provinces and cities in Eastern China and some provinces in the west would be the major purchasers of carbon credits under a national carbon emissions trading (CET) market. Following the introduction of emissions offset mechanisms, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Heilongjiang would be the major providers of carbon sinks in China.

Abstract Differentiated policies are key to improving the CO2 emissions reduction efficiency of cities, which are vital in mitigating climate change. The K-means cluster method and spatial logarithmic Divisia index decomposition method were used on the data of 279 cities in China to examine the impacts of local public expenditure on CO2 emissions in the context of socio-economic conditions. The results show emission differences in cities with similar socio-economic conditions. The impacts of the carbon intensity of local public expenditure and other public expenditures on the emission differences of city groups, which have different socio-economic conditions, were largest, followed by the local public expenditure scale and public environmental expenditure. The impacts of the proportions of public environmental expenditure and other expenditures were limited. Insights gained can provide feasible implications for Chinese cities, and enable policymakers to focus on the impact of different fiscal policies on CO2 emissions differences between cities.

Abstract Using provincial data on energy-related CO2 emissions in China from 1997 to 2014 and the CO2 emission Gini coefficient (CEG), this study evaluates China's spatial inequality in energy-related CO2 emissions. Further, we decompose this inequality and its variation from the perspectives of production and residential energy consumption, using the source decomposition and source increment decomposition methods. This paper presents a new CEG source increment decomposition method that can achieve complete decomposition. The results reveal a downward trend in China's overall, production sector and residential sector CO2 emissions inequality. Although the Gini coefficient of CO2 emissions from the residential sector is larger than that from the production sector, the contribution of the latter to the overall CEG is higher. The impacts of the spatial inequality of CO2 emissions from China's production and residential sectors depend on the type of energy. The concentration effect is the primary factor responsible for inducing changes in China’s overall and production sector CO2 emissions inequality, but it is not the only dominant factor for the residential sector CO2 emissions inequality.