Decomposition analysis of carbon emissions: Considering China's energy efficiency

Carbon emissions reduction has become a public concern since Paris Climate Conference in 2015, while energy efficiency improvements and the development of clean energy are crucial to carbon reduction. To investigate carbon dioxide emissions in China at different phases in 2000-2016, this research adopts the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) technique to study four drivers: population, economic development level, energy intensity, and carbon emission intensity. The results show that: (1) The rate of increase in CO2 emissions has decreased from an average of 10.6% in 2000-2011 to 0.79% in 2011-2016; (2) Declining energy intensity (-39.89%) is the largest contributor to China's carbon reduction among the four drivers in 2012-2016, followed by declining carbon emission intensity (-9%); (3) With rising energy efficiency and increased use of clean energy, China is transitioning to a sustainable economy. More innovative green technologies should be employed to enhance the efficiency of energy use and optimize energy structure to combat climate change. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under theCCBY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-reviewunder responsibility of the scientific committee of the 8th International Conference on Energy and Environment Research, ICEER, 2021.

Automated summary

This research investigates carbon dioxide emissions in China at different phases from 2000 to 2016, using the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) technique to study four drivers: population, economic development level, energy intensity, and carbon emission intensity. The results show a decrease in the rate of increase in CO2 emissions in recent years, with declining energy intensity being the largest contributor to carbon reduction in China.