Abstract
The energy resource is an essential input of economic growth, which has an important impact on the ecological environment and social welfare. From the perspective of social welfare, considering the radial and non-radial characteristics of different input and output indicators, and the inseparability of the energy input and undesirable output, this study employs the non-separable hybrid DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model to evaluate the total energy efficiency of Chinese provinces between 2012 and 2016. Furthermore, this study calculates the energy saving and emission reduction potentials of China. The results reveal that the average total factor energy efficiency in China from 2012 to 2016 is 0.694, which means that there are still 30.6% energy efficiency losses. There is great potential for China to save energy, reduce pollutant emissions, and increase the output of social welfare. There are great differences in the total factor energy efficiency among provinces. The average energy saving potential of the whole country is 60.5%. If the energy efficiency of all provinces can reach the frontier, the whole country can save more than half of the energy consumption. The highest national average emission reduction potential is SO2, followed by dust, CO2, and NOX. The implication of the conclusion is that in the development of regional economy, we cannot sacrifice the social welfare and sustainable development and take the growth rate of GDP as the only objective. Different energy saving and emission reduction policies should be put forward according to the characteristics of different provinces.
Highlights
The long-term preference for high-speed economic growth means that China is facing a serious energy shortage
The results reveal that the average total factor energy efficiency in China from 2012 to 2016 is 0.694, which means that there are still 30.6% energy efficiency losses
The traditional estimation of energy efficiency under the orientation of economic growth considers that the final output of production factors, such as labor, capital, and energy, is single, which is generally considered to be the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Summary
The long-term preference for high-speed economic growth means that China is facing a serious energy shortage. TThhee eenneerrggyy rreessoouurrccee iiss aann eesssseennttiiaall iinnppuutt ooff eeccoonnoommiicc ggrroowwtthh,, wwhhiicchh hhaass aann iimmppoorrttaanntt iimmppaacctt oonn tthhee eeccoollooggiiccaall eennvviirroonnmmeenntt aanndd ssoocciiaall wweellffaarree. OOnn tthhee wwhhoollee,, tthhee mmeeaassuurreemmeenntt ooff eenneerrggyy eeffifficciieennccyy hhaass eexxppeerriieenncceedd eevvoolluuttiioonn ffrroomm ““eeccoonnoommiicc ggrroowwtthh oorriieennttaattiioonn”” ttoo ““eeccoollooggiiccaall eennvviirroonnmmeenntt oorriieennttaattiioonn”” ttoo ““ssuussttaaiinnaabbiilliittyy oorriieennttaattiioonn”” ((FFiigguurree 11)). Li Lanbing considers that ignoring the existence ofthe undesired output will lead to an overestimation of China’s total factor energy efficiency This is mainly due to the overestimation of the rate of technological progress in energy use. The level of technological progress in emission reduction is lower than the level of technological progress in energy conservation [19]
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