Study of the impact of industrial restructuring on the intensity of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from high-energy-consuming sectors: empirical data from China.

Abstract

Environmental pollution and climate change have become nontraditional global security threats. As China's economy grows, the country faces an increasing number of challenges associated with improving atmospheric quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Based on China's dynamic noncompetitive input-output tables and data on energy consumption and emissions from 1994 to 2016, a hybrid input-output model is constructed to identify high-energy-consuming sectors and to quantify the impact of industrial restructuring on the intensity of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from these sectors. The empirical results indicate that the impact of industrial restructuring on the intensity of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from high-energy-consuming sectors was nonlinear and has undergone a "promotion reduction" shift. This study also found that the impact of industrial restructuring is more significant on the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions than on the intensity of air pollutant emissions; furthermore, the reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity achieved by industrial restructuring after 2008 began to show results. Based on the findings of this study, we make recommendations such as the need for the Chinese government to continue to promote supply-side structural reforms in the energy sector.