ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF CHINA'S AND INDIA'S NATIONAL ECONOMIES

Abstract

The development of society is highly dependent on energy. However, the extensive use of power causes global problems such as resource exhaustion and climate warming. China and India are typical fast-growing developing countries whose economic advancement relies on traditional energy consumption. To realize the vision of sustainable development for these states, it is necessary to study the nations' economic efficiency of power use. Based on the analysis of energy consumption and gross domestic product trends in China and India from 1990 to 2019, this paper discusses the changes in the energy consumption index per unit of gross domestic product. The authors concluded that the power consumption in China and India is mainly concentrated in the industry, residential, and transport sectors. Divided by resource types, the energy consumed by China comes primarily from coal, oil products, and electricity, while the power consumed by India is mainly from coal, oil products, biofuels and waste. Since both countries mostly use coal and oil products which belong to fossil fuels, they emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, endangering the environment quality. Given this, China and India should focus on green power development. China's total energy consumption is much larger than India's, and China's gross domestic product is much larger than India's. However, China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product is less than India's. The higher the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product is, the higher the dependence of economic development on energy is. The authors' suggestions are to develop non-fossil energy sources and adjust the energy mix, recycle solid wastes, and encourage carbon trading, climate investment and financing in the states to reach sustainable development targets.