Abstract
Our objective has been to decompose the energy-related industrial carbon emissions (ERICE) from both the macroeconomic and the microeconomic scales using an extended logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI), which few scientists have applied, for Jiangxi, China, over the period of 1998–2015. The macroeconomic factors were output, industrial structure, energy intensity, and energy structure. The microeconomic factors were investment intensity, R&D intensity, and R&D efficiency. It was found that output, R&D intensity, and investment intensity were mainly responsible for the increase of the ERICE, and their average annual contribution rates were 33.212%, 9.537%, and 4.200%, respectively. However, considering the infeasibility of decelerating industrial activities related to these three drivers, the development pattern of a circular economy was promoted. Then, the driving effect of the energy structure was the weakest (0.017%). Nevertheless, the potential of energy structure optimization to improve energy efficiency in Jiangxi should be given sufficient attention, e.g., greatly reducing the use of coal. Inversely, the R&D efficiency, energy intensity, and industrial structure presented obvious mitigating effects on the ERICE (− 13.737%, − 11, 652%, and − 7.804%, respectively). Therefore, some regulatory policy instruments have been recommended. For example, carbon reduction liability and carbon labels related to R&D investment should be implemented to encourage industrial firms to improve their energy efficiency. Then, reducing the energy intensity unceasingly while inhibiting the possible rebound effect should serve as a long-term strategy for the local government. Last, the potential mitigation effect of industrial structure optimization should be given sufficient attention when designing related reduction policies. Particularly, the top five energy-intensive subsectors S33 (Production and Supply of Electric Power and Heat Power), S23 (Smelting and Pressing of Ferrous Metals), S17 (Processing of Petroleum, Coking, and Processing of Nuclear Fuel), S22 (Manufacture of Non-metallic Mineral Products), and S1 (Mining and Washing of Coal) should be given priority.
Highlights
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the global average surface temperature rise since the 1950s may be caused by human activities (IPCC 2013; Qu et al 2016)
The reason is that human activities can create a large amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas (IPCC 2006; Specht et al 2016)
It could be concluded that the contribution of the industrial sector to the entire quantity of GHGs was extremely high in China and that we should pay sufficient attention to it
Summary
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the global average surface temperature rise since the 1950s may be caused by human activities (IPCC 2013; Qu et al 2016). Reducing the emissions of GHGs has become a common challenge in the world. It was reported that approximately 83% of the total GHGs had arisen from the industrial department of China (Zhang and Liu 2014). Since 2000, approximately 70% of China’s energy consumption came from the industrial sector (Liu et al 2016). As a central province of China, Jiangxi’s industrial department has almost the same importance. As is the case for all of China, controlling and reducing energy use and the related GHG emissions of Jiangxi’s industrial sector have become a serious and urgent challenge. The first and most important thing could be to identify the main influencing factors (drivers) of the energy-related industrial carbon emissions (ERICE) in Jiangxi. Jiangxi’s ERICE value was first calculated, and the factor decomposition method was adopted to analyze
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