Factors Affecting Energy-Related Carbon Emissions in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is a typical developed region in China. The development of economy has brought lots of carbon emissions. To explore an effective way to reduce carbon emissions, we applied the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model to find drivers behind carbon emission from 2003 to 2013. Results showed that, in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, economic output was main contributor to carbon emissions. Then we utilized the decoupling model to comprehensively analyze the relationship between economic output and carbon emission. Based on the two-level model, results indicated the following: (1) Industry sector accounted for almost 80% of energy consumption in whole region. The reduced proportion of industrial GDP will directly reduce the carbon emissions. (2) The carbon factor for CO2/energy in whole region was higher than that of Beijing and Tianjin but lower than that of Hebei. The impact of energy structure on carbon emission depends largely on the proportion of coal in industry. (3) The energy intensity in whole region decreased from 0.79 in 2003 to 0.40 in 2013 (unit: tons of standard coal/ten thousand yuan), which was lower than national average. (4) The cumulative effects of industrial structure, energy structure, and energy intensity were negative, positive, and negative, respectively.