IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v251y2022ics0360544222008192.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adjusted carbon intensity in China: Trend, driver, and network

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Jiandong
  • Xu, Chong
  • Huang, Shuo
  • Shen, Zhiyang
  • Song, Malin
  • Wang, Shiqi

Abstract

As a widely used indicator, carbon intensity (CI) may be overestimated because of the efficiency loss in the production process, while the corresponding complex network remains largely disregarded. This study constructed an adjusted CI (ACI) indicator by considering the technical efficiency using a non-radial directional distance function during 1997–2017 across 30 provinces in China. We showed that provincial ACI exhibited a downward trend with roughly similar trajectories of CI over the study period. Decomposition analysis implied that efficiency gains and energy intensity mainly decreased ACI, whereas the carbon factor accounted for the increase in ACI. Furthermore, social network analysis indicated that the previous hierarchical ACI spatial association structure was broken to a certain extent, thereby enhancing the network stability. This study illustrated the possible feasibility of setting up ACI-based emission reduction targets and policies, especially for economies undergoing rapid transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Jiandong & Xu, Chong & Huang, Shuo & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Wang, Shiqi, 2022. "Adjusted carbon intensity in China: Trend, driver, and network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:251:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222008192
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.123916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544222008192
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123916?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henderson, Daniel J. & Tochkov, Kiril & Badunenko, Oleg, 2007. "A drive up the capital coast? Contributions to post-reform growth across Chinese provinces," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 569-594, September.
    2. Zhang, Ning & Choi, Yongrok, 2013. "Total-factor carbon emission performance of fossil fuel power plants in China: A metafrontier non-radial Malmquist index analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 549-559.
    3. Zhu, Junpeng & Lin, Boqiang, 2020. "Convergence analysis of city-level energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    5. Cheng, Yuanyuan & Yao, Xin, 2021. "Carbon intensity reduction assessment of renewable energy technology innovation in China: A panel data model with cross-section dependence and slope heterogeneity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Christopher H. Trisos & Cory Merow & Alex L. Pigot, 2020. "The projected timing of abrupt ecological disruption from climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 580(7804), pages 496-501, April.
    7. Hao, Yu & Liao, Hua & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2015. "Is China’s carbon reduction target allocation reasonable? An analysis based on carbon intensity convergence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 229-239.
    8. Ang, B.W., 2015. "LMDI decomposition approach: A guide for implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 233-238.
    9. Chen, Jiandong & Xu, Chong & Song, Malin & Deng, Xiangzheng & Shen, Zhiyang, 2022. "Towards sustainable development: Distribution effect of carbon-food nexus in Chinese cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    10. Zhu Liu & Dabo Guan & Scott Moore & Henry Lee & Jun Su & Qiang Zhang, 2015. "Climate policy: Steps to China's carbon peak," Nature, Nature, vol. 522(7556), pages 279-281, June.
    11. Chen, Jiandong & Xu, Chong & Wang, Yuzhi & Li, Ding & Song, Malin, 2021. "Carbon neutrality based on vegetation carbon sequestration for China's cities and counties: Trend, inequality and driver," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. Oh, Dong-hyun, 2010. "A metafrontier approach for measuring an environmentally sensitive productivity growth index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 146-157, January.
    13. Dabo Guan & Stephan Klasen & Klaus Hubacek & Kuishuang Feng & Zhu Liu & Kebin He & Yong Geng & Qiang Zhang, 2014. "Determinants of stagnating carbon intensity in China," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 1017-1023, November.
    14. Richard S J Tol, 2018. "The Economic Impacts of Climate Change," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 4-25.
    15. Scott, John, 1988. "Social Network Analysis and Intercorporate Relations," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 23(1), pages 53-68, December.
    16. Smriti Mallapaty, 2020. "How China could be carbon neutral by mid-century," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7830), pages 482-483, October.
    17. Wang, Qunwei & Hang, Ye & Su, Bin & Zhou, Peng, 2018. "Contributions to sector-level carbon intensity change: An integrated decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 12-25.
    18. Jiandong Chen & Chong Xu & Qianjiao Xie & Malin Song, 2020. "Net primary productivity‐based factors of China's carbon intensity: A regional perspective," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 1727-1748, December.
    19. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W., 2008. "Decomposition of aggregate CO2 emissions: A production-theoretical approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1054-1067, May.
    20. Camilo Mora & Daniele Spirandelli & Erik C. Franklin & John Lynham & Michael B. Kantar & Wendy Miles & Charlotte Z. Smith & Kelle Freel & Jade Moy & Leo V. Louis & Evan W. Barba & Keith Bettinger & Ab, 2018. "Broad threat to humanity from cumulative climate hazards intensified by greenhouse gas emissions," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(12), pages 1062-1071, December.
    21. David Maddison, 2007. "Modelling sulphur emissions in Europe: a spatial econometric approach," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 726-743, October.
    22. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Wang, H., 2012. "Energy and CO2 emission performance in electricity generation: A non-radial directional distance function approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 221(3), pages 625-635.
    23. Fare, Rolf, et al, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    24. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Xie, Bai-Chen & Zhang, N., 2019. "Assessing drivers of CO2 emissions in China's electricity sector: A metafrontier production-theoretical decomposition analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 1096-1107.
    25. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    26. Li, Man, 2010. "Decomposing the change of CO2 emissions in China: A distance function approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 77-85, November.
    27. Fan, Ying & Liu, Lan-Cui & Wu, Gang & Tsai, Hsien-Tang & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2007. "Changes in carbon intensity in China: Empirical findings from 1980-2003," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 683-691, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Chong, 2023. "Towards balanced low-carbon development: Driver and complex network of urban-rural energy-carbon performance gap in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    2. Feng, Xinhui & Lin, Xinle & Li, Yan & Yang, Jiayu & Yu, Er & Lei, Kaige, 2024. "Spatial association network of carbon emission performance: Formation mechanism and structural characteristics," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Bingjie Wang & Chong Xu & Ding Li & Yinyin Wu & Yaqi Zhang, 2023. "The Effects of Environmental Tax Revenue on Sustainable Development in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Xu, Chong & Li, Zhiwen & Chen, Boyang & Yang, Qian & An, Jiafu, 2024. "Low-carbon development in China's transportation sector: Multidimensional characteristics and policy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    5. Xian, Yujiao & Hu, Zhihui & Wang, Ke, 2023. "The least-cost abatement measure of carbon emissions for China's glass manufacturing industry based on the marginal abatement costs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Chong, 2023. "Towards balanced low-carbon development: Driver and complex network of urban-rural energy-carbon performance gap in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    2. Xu, Chong & Wang, Bingjie & Chen, Jiandong & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & An, Jiafu, 2022. "Carbon inequality in China: Novel drivers and policy driven scenario analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Xu, Chong & Li, Zhiwen & Chen, Boyang & Yang, Qian & An, Jiafu, 2024. "Low-carbon development in China's transportation sector: Multidimensional characteristics and policy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    4. Jiandong Chen & Chong Xu & Qianjiao Xie & Malin Song, 2020. "Net primary productivity‐based factors of China's carbon intensity: A regional perspective," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 1727-1748, December.
    5. Jiandong Chen & Chong Xu & Yinyin Wu & Zihao Li & Malin Song, 2022. "Drivers and trajectories of China’s renewable energy consumption," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 313(1), pages 441-459, June.
    6. Liu, Xiao & Hang, Ye & Wang, Qunwei & Chiu, Ching-Ren & Zhou, Dequn, 2022. "The role of energy consumption in global carbon intensity change: A meta-frontier-based production-theoretical decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    7. Wang, Hui & Li, Rupeng & Zhang, Ning & Zhou, Peng & Wang, Qiang, 2020. "Assessing the role of technology in global manufacturing energy intensity change: A production-theoretical decomposition analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Chen, Jiandong & Xu, Chong & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Song, Malin, 2021. "Interaction determinants and projections of China’s energy consumption: 1997–2030," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    9. Nabavieh, Alireza & Gholamiangonabadi, Davoud & Ahangaran, Ali Asghar, 2015. "Dynamic changes in CO2 emission performance of different types of Iranian fossil-fuel power plants," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 142-150.
    10. Wang, H. & Zhou, P., 2018. "Multi-country comparisons of CO2 emission intensity: The production-theoretical decomposition analysis approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 310-320.
    11. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Xie, Bai-Chen & Zhang, N., 2019. "Assessing drivers of CO2 emissions in China's electricity sector: A metafrontier production-theoretical decomposition analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 1096-1107.
    12. Zhang, Ning & Choi, Yongrok & Wang, Wei, 2019. "Does energy research funding work? Evidence from the Natural Science Foundation of China using TEI@I method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 369-380.
    13. Feng, Chao & Zhang, Hua & Huang, Jian-Bai, 2017. "The approach to realizing the potential of emissions reduction in China: An implication from data envelopment analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 859-872.
    14. Zhang, Ning & Zhao, Yu & Wang, Na, 2022. "Is China's energy policy effective for power plants? Evidence from the 12th Five-Year Plan energy saving targets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    15. Cheng, Zhonghua & Li, Lianshui & Liu, Jun & Zhang, Huiming, 2018. "Total-factor carbon emission efficiency of China's provincial industrial sector and its dynamic evolution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 330-339.
    16. Jianglong Li & Boqiang Lin, 2016. "Green Economy Performance and Green Productivity Growth in China’s Cities: Measures and Policy Implication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-21, September.
    17. Zha, Donglan & Yang, Guanglei & Wang, Qunwei, 2019. "Investigating the driving factors of regional CO2 emissions in China using the IDA-PDA-MMI method," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Yanni Yu & Yongrok Choi, 2015. "Measuring Environmental Performance Under Regional Heterogeneity in China: A Metafrontier Efficiency Analysis," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 375-388, October.
    19. Xiao Liu & Yancai Zhang & Yingying Li, 2022. "How Does Energy Consumption and Economic Development Affect Carbon Emissions? A Multi-Process Decomposition Framework," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-16, November.
    20. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan & Goto, Mika, 2017. "A literature study for DEA applied to energy and environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 104-124.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:251:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222008192. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.