Unfolding the painting scroll of energy intensity changes in Chinese mainland (1990–2019): A regional perspective

Abstract

Improving the aggregate energy efficiency is consequential for China's sustainable development and carbon dioxide reduction, but there lacks a systematic analysis of China's energy intensity long-term changes. China's energy intensity fell sharply by 74.7% with great heterogeneity across regions during the years 1990–2019, but rose steadily by 7% from 2001 to 2005. This paper combined decomposition approach and econometric analysis to unfold the painting scroll of energy intensity changes in Chinese mainland (1990–2019) from a regional perspective. Decreased by the increase of relative energy price, the expansion of technology transactions and the surrounding provinces' efforts, provincial intensity was found as the main driving force of the aggregate energy intensity reduction in general from 1990 to 2019. Yet, after controlling the effects of these factors, macroeconomic cyclical fluctuation, triggered by Chinese reindustrialization process, increased the provincial intensity, hence amplified the aggregate energy intensity between 2001 and 2005. The results of this study will provide sufficient basis for the policy implications on the improvement of energy efficiency in China and developing countries in the future.

Keywords

• Energy intensity
• Energy price
• Technology advancement
• Spillover effect
• Reindustrialization