An analysis of the driving forces of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in China’s industrial sector

据爱思唯尔（Elsevier）最新公布的2017年度Energy Connect China显示：2017年12月，厦门大学管理学院中国能源政策研究院院长林伯强教授为通讯作者的来自期刊Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews的学术论文“An analysis of the driving forces of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in China’s industrial sector”入选爱思唯尔（Elsevier）公布的能源领域期刊中国作者高被引文章。【Abstract】Both energy consumption and the growth of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions in China are attributed to the industrial sector. Energy conservation and CO2 emissions reduction in China's industrial sector is decisive for achieving a low-carbon transition. We analyze the change of energy-related CO2 emissions in China's industrial sector from 1991 to 2010 based on the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method. Results indicate that industrial activity is the major factor that contributes to the increase of industrial CO2 emissions while energy intensity is the major contributor to the decrease of CO2 emissions. Industry size shows a varying trend interchanging intervals of growth along the study period. Moreover, both energy mix and carbon intensity of energy use have negative effects on the increase of CO2 emissions. The cointegration method is adopted to further explore determinants of CO2 emissions in China's industrial sector. Results show that there exists a long-run relationship between industrial CO2 emissions and affecting factors such as CO2 emissions per unit of energy consumption, industrial value added, labor productivity and fossil fuel consumption. China's industrial CO2 emissions are mainly attributed to the coal-dominated energy structure. Policy suggestions are thus provided to reduce industrial CO2 emissions in China.The paper is supported by Newhuadu Business School Research Fund, Ministry of Education (Grant No. 10JBG013, 14YJC630026), Social Science Foundation (Grant No.12&ZD059) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71472065)

Energy and CO2 emissions performance in China's regional economies: Do market-oriented reforms matter?

【Abstract】This paper employs a newly developed non-radial directional distance function to evaluate China's regional energy and CO2 emission performance for the period 1997–2009. Moreover, we analyze the impact of China's market-oriented reform on China's regional energy and carbon efficiency. The main findings are as follows. First, most of China's regions did not perform efficiently in energy use and CO2 emissions. Provinces in the east area generally performed better than those in the central and west areas.By contrast, provinces in the west area generally evidenced the lowest efficiency. Second, Market-or-iented reforms, especially the promotion of factor market, were found to have positive effect on the efficiency of energy use and CO2 emissions. Third, the share of coal in the total energy consumption and the expansion of the industrial sector were found to be negatively correlated with China's regional energy and CO2 emissions performance. Based on the empirical findings, we provide policy suggestions for enhancing energy and carbon efficiency in China.This paper is supported by the Research Fund of Newhuadu Business School, Ministry of Education Foundation (Funding no.10JZD0018), Basic Research Universities Special Foundation (Funding no.2010221051), Ministry of Education Foundation (Funding no. 10JBG013) and National Social Science Foundation (Funding no.09&ZD050). Kerui Du thanks the financial support of Yinxing Economic Research Fund

Natural gas subsidies in the industrial sector in China: National and regional perspectives

Abstract(#br)This paper seeks to investigate the regional heterogeneity in natural gas subsidies of China’s industrial sector. Price-gap approach and logarithmic mean Divisia index method (LMDI) are combined to accomplish this goal. The results show that there exists regional heterogeneity in the decomposition on the variation of industrial natural gas subsidy in China. In other words, the factors that contribute to the changes in subsidies differ from a regional basis. During 2007–2013, consumption exerted a positive impact on the increase of industrial natural gas subsidies, contributing more than 80% both in the eastern and northeastern regions, followed by 70.66% in the western region and 69.54% in the central region. During 2013–2016, the main factor affecting the changes in industrial natural gas subsidies is the pricing mechanism. The pricing mechanism played a significant positive role in the decline of industrial natural gas subsidies, with contribution rate of 367.73% in the northeastern region, 80.64% in the eastern region, 75.68% in the central region and 74.34% in the western region. Based on the results, we suggest that the policy measures enacted by government should differ in regions when promoting subsidy reform, especially for developing countries with unbalanced regional development

How does tax system on energy industries affect energy demand, CO 2 emissions, and economy in China?

Abstract(#br)Energy savings and CO 2 emission reduction have become a major issue in recent years. Taxes on energy production sectors may be an effective way to save energy, reduce CO 2 emissions, and improve environmental quality. This paper constructs a dynamic recursive Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the impact of the energy tax on energy, economy, and environment from the perspective of tax rates and tax forms (specific tax and ad valorem tax). The results show that adjusting the tax system and the tax rate has important implications for energy conservation while having minor impacts on the output of other industries. The impact of an increasing energy tax on the energy demand is greater than the impact on sectoral output, indicating that energy efficiency will be increased to some extent. The CO 2 reduction will increase over time when an ad valorem tax is implemented on enterprises. We found that ad valorem tax has greater elasticity of economic output, energy demand, and CO 2 emission reduction. The results support the direction of China’s resource tax reform. However, we argue that it is better to increase the tax rate relatively and relax the control on energy prices so that energy efficiency will increase

Economic, energy and environmental impact of coal-to-electricity policy in China: A dynamic recursive CGE study

Abstract(#br)In north China, many rural and urban residents still use coal for heating in winter. However, such method would result in a large amount of GHG emissions. China intends to change the heating method of its citizens from coal burning to electric heating to save energy, reduce emissions, which is called the project of Coal to Electricity (CtE). A dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model is applied to analyze the real effect if the project is widely promoted in China. We found that CtE project is effective in reducing SO 2 and NO x emission than CO 2 emissions. In essence, energy substitution is not energy-saving, so the contribution to CO 2 reduction of CtE project is limited. There is a certain co-benefit between CtE project and other energy saving policies (new energy generation, improving heating efficiency and building energy saving etc.). The findings indicate that single CtE policy can only bring better air quality. However, with other energy saving policies, CtE project can not only bring NO x and SO 2 reduction, but also lead to less CO 2 emissions and more convenient life. Multiple emission reduction measures are suggested to maximize the reduction effects of these policies

Will land transport infrastructure affect the energy and carbon dioxide emissions performance of China’s manufacturing industry?

Abstract(#br)The energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of China’s manufacturing industry accounted for 12.8% and 15.5% of the world in 2016, respectively. On the other hand, the construction of land transport infrastructure has become the focal point of the Chinese government recently. However, there is very little literature investigating the influencing mechanism of land transport infrastructure on the energy and environmental efficiency of the sector. Therefore, it is crucial and meaningful to study how the latter is affected by the land transport infrastructure to alleviate global energy and environmental issues. Non-radial directional distance function was used to calculate two indicators measuring energy and carbon dioxide emissions performance in this paper. The panel Tobit model was then applied to focus on factors affecting the performance. The results indicate that land transport infrastructure, economic growth, technological progress, energy prices, industrial structure have significant impacts on the energy and environmental efficiency of China’s manufacturing industry. Different from the results at the national level, from a regional perspective, the development of land transport infrastructure in the eastern region plays a negative role in the performance of the manufacturing industry. Finally, some targeted policy recommendations are proposed to improve the policy design of the government

Economic, energy and environmental impact of coal-to-electricity policy in China: A dynamic recursive CGE study.

In north China, many rural and urban residents still use coal for heating in winter. However, such method would result in a large amount of GHG emissions. China intends to change the heating method of its citizens from coal burning to electric heating to save energy, reduce emissions, which is called the project of Coal to Electricity (CtE). A dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model is applied to analyze the real effect if the project is widely promoted in China. We found that CtE project is effective in reducing SO2 and NOx emission than CO2 emissions. In essence, energy substitution is not energy-saving, so the contribution to CO2 reduction of CtE project is limited. There is a certain co-benefit between CtE project and other energy saving policies (new energy generation, improving heating efficiency and building energy saving etc.). The findings indicate that single CtE policy can only bring better air quality. However, with other energy saving policies, CtE project can not only bring NOx and SO2 reduction, but also lead to less CO2 emissions and more convenient life. Multiple emission reduction measures are suggested to maximize the reduction effects of these policies

Determinants of renewable energy technological innovation in China under CO2 emissions constraint.

Renewable energy is not only an efficient way to ensure energy independence and security but also supports the transition to a low carbon economy and society. The progress of renewable energy technological innovation is an important factor that influences the development of renewable energy. An in-depth analysis of the driving factors that influence this progress is crucial to China’s energy transition. Based on Chinese provincial data over 2000-2015 and panel data models, this paper regards the CO2 emissions as climate change and explores the response of renewable energy technological innovation to intensive CO2 emissions. We also analyze the effect of the driving factors such as energy price and R&D investment on this innovation process. The main conclusions drawn are: (1) There are significant differences in technological innovation levels across China’s provinces. (2) We observe that the intensive CO2 emissions have promoted renewable energy technological innovation level, meaning that innovation process responds actively to climate changes. (3) R&D investment from government and enterprise both are conducive for promoting the innovation level. (4) Energy price has an insignificant effect on innovation in renewable energy technologies and we attribute this to the unreasonable energy price mechanism. This paper provides clear evidence for understanding the role of innovation on climate change

Does the different sectoral coverage matter? An analysis of China's carbon trading market

Abstract(#br)By the end of 2017, China formally established the national carbon trading market, however, only electricity industry was eligible to participate in the emission trading scheme (ETS). This paper aims to answer the question as to what should China do after the first step of establishing China’s national ETS market using a dynamic recursive CGE model with six scenarios from different coverage according to relevant documents. The results show that when more industries are covered in ETS market it will lead to a higher GDP performance and less ETS price in general. Since the trading price is related to the marginal emission reduction cost of enterprises, the coverage of enterprises with low emission reduction cost can bring lower prices. However, there is no direct relationship between carbon price and emission reduction, as the coverage is different in different. There is no obvious relationship between the additional burden of enterprises and emission reduction, it is only related to carbon price and the coverage. Finally, we find that after covering the power generation industry, the carbon market should cover other primary energy production enterprises, which will bring much better emission reduction benefits than the original plan of the National Development and Reform Commission in China

Is more use of electricity leading to less carbon emission growth? An analysis with a panel threshold model

Abstract(#br)Electricity plays a key role in modern energy service and climate mitigation. Electricity is becoming more accessible and it is substituted for fossil fuel in more scenarios. Generating electricity from clean energy instead of traditional coal and improving the efficiency of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization are making it possible for a carbon emission growth reduction. Here we explored the question of whether more use of electricity will lead to less carbon emission growth. Firstly, based on the panel data of 114 countries from 2000 to 2014, we applied a STIRPAT model and then analyzed the relationship between carbon emission and electricity use level with fixed effects panel model and adopted a panel threshold regression model considering electricity-generating source heterogeneity. The results show that electricity use level has a significant negative effect on carbon emission especially when clean energy-based electricity takes a bigger portion. Population, economic growth, urbanization, and industrialization have significant positive impacts on carbon emission. We came up with policy implications based on the results in the end