Sustainable resource management in China's energy mining sector: A synthesis of development and conservation in the FinTech era

Abstract

The optimal exploitation of energy and mineral resources is crucial to the optimal allocation of resources and the sustainable development of Society. Based on the optimal control theory, this paper establishes a dynamic model of inter-period optimal exploitation of mineral resources and examines the impacts of energy resource supply and environmental pollution with the help of a panel data vector autoregressive (PVAR) model under the constraints of environmental regulations and technological advances in each region. These results show that the estimated coefficient for the one-period lag of energy supply is significantly positive at the 1% level, indicating that a positive shock resulting in increased energy supply in the preceding period is associated with a pronounced escalation in environmental pollution. Meanwhile, the estimated coefficient for the one-period lag of environmental pollution is negative at the 1% level. In contrast, the estimated coefficients for the one-period lag of environmental regulation and technological progress are positive. It implies that positive shocks in the intensity of environmental regulation and technological progress in the previous period contribute to a more efficient energy supply. Furthermore, the estimated coefficient for the one-period lag of environmental pollution and energy supply is significantly positive at 1%. It suggests that heightened environmental pollution and energy shortages in the preceding period prompted the government to undertake necessary measures to address these issues. Therefore, establishing a theoretical model that meets the characteristics of China's resources will be conducive to realizing sustainable development of resources and the environment.