Energy Reports (Jul 2022)
Analysis of energy efficiency in China’s export trade: A perspective based on the synergistic reduction of CO2 and SO2
Abstract
China has become the world’s largest energy consumer with its energy consumption growth accounts for three-quarters of the global growth. It is necessary to measure its energy efficiency reasonably. Previous studies mainly investigated energy use efficiency from the perspective of direct energy consumption without considering the energy consumption related to intermediate production, and did not eliminate the influence of random errors and environmental variables, resulting in deviations in energy efficiency measurement results. Combining a non-competitive input–output model and a three-stage data envelopment analysis, and based on the perspective of synergistic CO2 and SO2 emission reduction, this study constructs a new environmentally extended energy efficiency model to elucidate the true energy efficiency of China’s export trade. The results are as follows. (1) The implied energy efficiency of China’s export trade is generally on the rise under environmental constraints. Although its real efficiency in excluding external environmental factors has declined, its potential for improvement is still great. (2) Technological innovation and the expansion of export trade scale are conducive to the improvement of energy efficiency. Due to overcapacity, increasing industry capital investment will not greatly improve energy efficiency, but will increase the energy consumption and pollution emissions. (3) The average energy saving potential of China’s export trade is 8.91%, and the average emission reduction potential is 11.77%. (4) From 2002 to 2017, the average annual growth rate of implied energy efficiency in export trade was 8.9%, and technological progress was the main source of growth.
