Focus on the provincial inequalities in energy consumption and CO2 emissions of Iran's agriculture sector

Abstract

Analyzing and understanding the driving factors behind CO₂ emissions is noticeable due to increasing the awareness about CO₂ emissions, and it is a highlight in Iran's agriculture sector because of the increasing amount of CO₂ emissions, inefficient government policies, and rising fossil energy consumption in last decade. By considering the regional differences to investigate this aim, the Theil index and Kaya factor used to analysis the provincial inequality in CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, and identify the driving factor. Using the Theil approach helps us to find out the inequality trend in CO₂ emissions and energy consumption and also inequality across different provinces. In that way, the Kaya identity applied to analyze the factor behind the inequality in CO₂ emissions. The empirical result shows some points, primary, according to the criteria and weights in the grouping methodologies, the GDP, due to the lower level of contribution in within-group inequality, is better than the population. Further, by assessing the inequality in the consumption of different forms of energy and CO₂emissions across the provinces, most of the inequality was related to within-group, and the Theil trends are decreasing in gas and electricity; this trend is unclear and fluctuated in petroleum products and increase in CO₂ emissions. Secondly, the first and second phases of subsidizing targeting have reduced the consumption and inequality of petroleum products and CO₂emissions in the short term. Still, the inequality in CO₂ emissions continues to increase recently. Thirdly, the national inequality in CO₂emission mainly attributed to energy factors across provinces, and an increase in the energy inequalities helps to explain the CO₂ inequality increase.

Keywords: Agriculture; CO(2); Inequality; Iran; Kaya; Theil.