Multi-drivers and multi-mechanism analysis for city-level energy consumption in Suzhou based on the extended STIRPAT model

Abstract

Examining the driving factors of energy consumption at city scale, is an important measure for effectively achieving energy saving and emission reduction. An extended STIRPAT model based on the classical IPAT identity is adopted to uncover the main drivers for total energy consumption in Suzhou, an important manufacturing city in China, during 2006 to 2016. The main conclusions are as follow: (1) Foreign trade, economic growth, and industrialization are the three dominant contributors to energy consumption increments. Furthermore, quite significant portion of Suzhou’s foreign trade is processing exports. The export products are mainly high-energy consumption such as electromechanical, chemical, textile, etc. The export-oriented economy is accelerating the economic growth and industrialization, and also strengthening the energy intensive regional development mode. (2) Urbanization and population size are also the main driving factors for the rapid growth of energy consumption in Suzhou. The population scale effect exhibits the urban function of absorb employment and agglomerate population in Suzhou, it also demonstrates the growing energy demands caused by population growth and the accompanying urbanization process. (3) Energy consumption intensity and energy consumption structure are the important influencing factor in curbing energy consumption in Suzhou. Energy saving effects played by energy consumption intensity are stronger than energy consumption structure. The coal-based energy consumption structure has not been changed fundamentally during the research period. Therefore, the energy saving effect of energy structure has not been fully utilized. The current and future major strategies for controlling energy consumption in Suzhou should further improve energy utilization efficiency, optimize energy consumption structure, and reduce the proportion of coal consumption.