Analysing the Effect of Energy Intensity on Carbon Emission Reduction in Beijing

Gen Li; Shihong Zeng; Tengfei Li; Qiao Peng; Muhammad Irfan

doi:10.3390/ijerph20021379

Analysing the Effect of Energy Intensity on Carbon Emission Reduction in Beijing

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 12;20(2):1379. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021379.

Authors

Gen Li¹, Shihong Zeng^{1

2

3}, Tengfei Li¹, Qiao Peng⁴, Muhammad Irfan^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ College of Economics & Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
² Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan.
³ Beijing Modern Manufacturing Development Research Base of Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
⁴ Group of Information Technology, Analytics & Operations, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5EE, UK.
⁵ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
⁶ Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
⁷ Department of Business Administration, Ilma University, Karachi 75190, Pakistan.

Abstract

Beijing has experienced rapid economic development since the reforms and opening up. However, the traditional development model based on excessive energy consumption has posed great challenges to the ecological environment. To curb environmental degradation and achieve sustainable social development, Beijing has proposed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As an important indicator of energy consumption, it is necessary to clarify how energy intensity (EI) affects carbon emissions (CE) to achieve carbon neutrality in Beijing by 2050. This study first decomposes the drivers of CE in Beijing from 2010 to 2020 using the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method and comparatively analyses the impact of EI on CE. Then, the spatial Dubin model (SDM) is used to analyse the spatial spillover effect of EI on CE at the regional level. Finally, the macro moderating role of economic development in the effect of EI on CE is analysed. The results show that the effect of EI has been the main driver of CE reduction in Beijing. Among the industrial sectors, manufacturing and transportation have had the greatest success in reducing CE through EI reduction. At the regional level, there is a spatial spillover effect of EI on CE, and the effect of carbon reduction through the spillover effect of EI is greater than the direct effect of EI. Economic factors have an enhanced moderating effect on the process of EI affecting CE, and this moderating effect has threshold properties.

Keywords: Beijing; LMDI; carbon emissions; energy intensity; spatial spill over effect.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Beijing
Carbon Dioxide / analysis
Carbon* / analysis
China
Commerce
Economic Development*
Industry

Substances

Carbon
Carbon Dioxide

Grants and funding

This research was funded partly by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (9222002); National Social Science Fund Major Project, Research on the Design and Effect of Carbon Information Disclosure System under the “Double Carbon” Target, Project Approval No. 22&ZD145; the National Natural Science Foundation of China: Research on the Construction of a Carbon Neutral Economic Transformation Model for China (72140001).