Abstract
Energy efficiency is one of the most practical ways for China to simultaneously tackle environmental issues and achieve sustainable development. However, the issue of inadequate capital inflows is a bottleneck in energy efficiency projects, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study focuses on the complicated financial barriers to effectively promoting such projects for SMEs. A hybrid framework was proposed to recognize the most obvious financing barriers under uncertain circumstances. Potential barriers were collected firstly to build an index system, including the five dimensions of “policy and regulation”, “economic market”, “financial institutions”, “behavior” and “economic non-market”. Then, this paper introduced a novel way to combine a fuzzy Delphi and a fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The fuzzy Delphi method was applied to extract significant factors from potential barriers. To analyze a series of causal relationships, the fuzzy DEMATEL approach was employed. Moreover, triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) are used firstly to express vague linguistic ratings in the proposed framework. Based on the experts’ opinions, seventeen significant factors were chosen to assemble a final evaluation system. Eleven key barriers were identified by analyzing cause-effect relations, including “slight fiscal incentives”, “inadequate energy market trading mechanisms”, “a low priority of energy saving issues”, etc. The key barriers affiliated with “market” and “policy and regulation” are much more important than the others. Except for B11 and B53, the others are the original factors. Finally, we listed relevant suggested measures to help SMEs, government departments and financial institutions overcome the key barriers.
Highlights
China is endowed with abundant fossil energy resources and relies heavily on coal to drive economic growth
20 qualified respondents, including four administrators working for government departments, four professors researching on energy saving, four financing experts who have wide experience on project investment, four electric engineers and four entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were invited to participate in a communication meeting
We have deeply analyzed the difficulties of hindering the financing energy efficiency for SMEs in this paper
Summary
China is endowed with abundant fossil energy resources and relies heavily on coal to drive economic growth. Huge energy demands for national productions and awful pollutant emissions pose a threat to sustainable socioeconomic development [1]. The country has become the largest energy consumer and the top CO2 emitter in the world nowadays [2]. Energy security issues are drawing more and more attention. Frequent hazy weather and polluted water have negative impacts on people’s lives. Increasing urbanization, a high level of car ownership, and energy-consuming appliances represent inefficient lifestyles and production modes. There is a critical need to change backward development trajectories and improve resource utilization. Energy efficiency is a powerful way to simultaneously promote the sustainable development of energy industries and battle climate
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