"New normal" characteristics show in China's energy footprints and carbon footprints

Junqing Yu; Ting Yang; Tao Ding; Kaile Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147210

"New normal" characteristics show in China's energy footprints and carbon footprints

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Sep 1:785:147210. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147210. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Authors

Junqing Yu¹, Ting Yang¹, Tao Ding², Kaile Zhou³

Affiliations

¹ School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China.
² School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China; Key Laboratory of Process Optimization and Intelligent Decision-making, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China.
³ School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China; Key Laboratory of Process Optimization and Intelligent Decision-making, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China. Electronic address: zhoukaile@hfut.edu.cn.

PMID: 33932666
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147210

Abstract

Around the 2010s, China's economy has entered a "new normal" stage-transitioning from an extensive to an intensive growth mode. This study aims to investigate whether China's energy and carbon footprints also show these "new normal" characteristics. We evaluate China's energy and carbon footprints of 42 sectors from 2007 to 2017. The "new normal" characteristics are reflected from three dimensions: trend, structure, and driving factor. The results show that while the growth rate of China's energy and carbon footprints has slowed down, the total footprints are still increasing. The footprints induced by consumption have gradually exceeded those induced by export, and the tertiary industrial sectors became critical nodes in footprint networks. Furthermore, economic structure and development level have been major drivers of energy and carbon footprint growth. The findings reveal that China's energy and carbon footprints show similar "new normal" characteristics as economic development. This supports the targeted formulation of China's future policies to achieve sustainable development.

Keywords: Carbon footprint; Complex network analysis; Energy footprint; Input-output model; New normal.