How to reduce energy intensity in China: A regional comparison perspective

China faces growing environmental problems as rapid economic growth comes at the cost of excessive resource consumption. Sustainable development can only be realized by reducing energy intensity. Although some general factors that influence energy intensity have been described, less information is a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy policy 2013-10, Vol.61, p.513-522
Main Authors: Li, Yi, Sun, Linyan, Feng, Taiwen, Zhu, Chunyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
China
China (People's Republic)
Comparative analysis
Cost
Economic conditions
Economic data
Economic development
Economic forecasts
Economic growth
Economic structure
Energy
Energy consumption
Energy economics
Energy intensity
Energy policy
Environmental conditions
Environmental impact studies
Exact sciences and technology
General, economic and professional studies
Methodology. Modelling
Pollution control
Studies
Sustainable development
Technological change
Technological progress
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:China faces growing environmental problems as rapid economic growth comes at the cost of excessive resource consumption. Sustainable development can only be realized by reducing energy intensity. Although some general factors that influence energy intensity have been described, less information is available to compare energy intensity in different regions. Here we use existing literature to assess the effects of three internal factors (economic structure, energy consumption structure, and technological progress) on energy intensity in three regions of China. We use panel data from 2000 to 2009 and find that the effects of each factor differ in each region. We further differentiate these effects by decomposing technological progress into three parts using the DEA-Malmquist approach. We find three components of technological change have completely different effects in each region. Furthermore, these findings are applied to propose relevant suggestions to reduce energy intensity in different regions of China. •We examine the factors influencing energy intensity across different Chinese regions.•Energy intensity is influenced by different factors among three regions. Technological progress is further decomposed into three elements.•Technological change has a negative effect on energy intensity in the Central region.
ISSN:0301-4215
1873-6777
DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.007