Does the Opening of High-Speed Railway Lines Reduce the Carbon Intensity of China’s Resource-Based Cities?

Zhipeng Tang,Jialing Zou,Ziao Mei

doi:10.3390/en14154648

Abstract

The carbon intensity of China’s resource-based cities (RBCs) is much higher than the national average due to their relatively intensive mode of development. Low carbon transformation of RBCs is an important way to achieve the goal of reaching the carbon emissions peak in 2030. Based on the panel data from 116 RBCs in China from 2003 to 2018, this study takes the opening of high-speed railway (HSR) lines as a quasi-experiment, using a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to empirically evaluate the impact of an HSR line on reducing the carbon intensity of RBCs. The results show that the opening of an HSR line can reduce the carbon intensity of RBCs, and this was still true after considering the possibility of problems with endogenous selection bias and after applying the relevant robustness tests. The opening of an HSR line is found to have a significant reducing effect on the carbon intensity of different types of RBC, and the decline in the carbon intensity of coal-based cities is found to be the greatest. Promoting migration of RBCs with HSR lines is found to be an effective intermediary way of reducing their carbon intensity.

Highlights

IntroductionResource-based cities (RBCs) are cities with natural resources such as forests and minerals, and forestry or extraction and processing of minerals are their leading industries
Resource-based cities (RBCs) are cities with natural resources such as forests and minerals, and forestry or extraction and processing of minerals are their leading industries.As an important strategic base of energy resources, RBCs play an important role in China’s economic growth
(1) Looking at the difference before and after the opening of an high-speed railway (HSR) line in an RBC, it can be seen that opening an HSR line can significantly reduce the carbon intensity of an RBC

Summary

Introduction

Resource-based cities (RBCs) are cities with natural resources such as forests and minerals, and forestry or extraction and processing of minerals are their leading industries. As an important strategic base of energy resources, RBCs play an important role in China’s economic growth. China’s carbon emissions are among the highest in the world. At the 75th United Nations conference in September 2020, the Chinese government promised to strive to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030 and to meet a target of carbon neutrality before 2060. In December of the same year, at the Climate Ambition Summit, China committed to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 65% from. This reduction in carbon intensity will be a binding target for Chinese provinces and cities

Methods

Results

Conclusion