Spatiotemporal patterns and influence factors of coupling coordination between regional final energy electrification and social equity in China

Abstract

[Objective] This study aimed to evaluate the spatiotemporal patterns and key influencing factors of the coupling and coordination between regional energy transformation and social equity, in order to provide evaluation methods and management policies for China’s regional energy justice and high-quality development of new energy in the new era. [Methods] By introducing the Energy Policy Sustainability Assessment Framework (EPSEF) and considering the terminal energy electrification rate, income distribution, and five key influencing factors related to energy justice, a comprehensive evaluation model was constructed to evaluate the spatial-temporal characteristics and key influencing factors of the coupling and coordination of regional terminal energy electrification and social equity in China from 2001 to 2020. [Results] (1) From 2001 to 2020, the increase of electrification rate of terminal energy showed a trend of the western region (+7.23%) > the eastern region (+5.51%) > the central region (+4.77%) > the northeastern region (-0.42%). The improvement of social equity showed a trend of the eastern region (+3.90) > the central region (+3.61) > the western region (+3.10) > the northeastern region (+2.20). (2) The coupling and coordination degrees have entered the adjustment stage in the 13th Five Year Plan period, and presented a shuttle shape of narrow at both ends and wide in the middle, with fewer medium-level coordination and mild imbalance provinces, and more barely coordinated and primary coordination provinces. (3) From 2001 to 2020, social participation and energy poverty had significantly improved in most regions, while labor employment, public health, and environmental pollution were the areas commonly had shortcomings. [Conclusion] China’s renewable energy development urgently needs to address the shortcomings of coordinated improvement of social equity in underdeveloped areas. Currently, there are fluctuations or “regionalized” imbalances in the coordinated development of energy transformation and social equity in some regions, which may be related to factors such as lagging behind in the coordinated construction of energy infrastructure, limited power market absorption capacity, shrinking of resource-based cities, and spillover effects of energy development. National policy intervention of China plays a significant role in promoting the universal service of electric energy. In the future, it is still necessary to expand and strengthen the collaborative improvement of key factors of energy justice such as employment, public health, and environmental pollution.

Keywords

• energy justice|energy transition|social equity|terminal energy electrification|renewable energy|china