What factors drive the temporal-spatial differences of electricity consumption in the Yangtze River Delta region of China

Abstract

Effective control of electricity consumption is crucial to achieving China's dual carbon goals, as it can significantly reduce coal consumption and associated carbon emissions. Using the Logarithmic Mean Divisa Index (LMDI) method, this paper constructs a two-stage decomposition model, which can divide total electricity consumption into industry and domestic electricity consumption and further examine the differential driving mechanism of the two types of electricity consumption separately. Taking the Yangtze River Delta as the research object, this paper analyzes the drivers of its temporal differences in total electricity consumption from 2000 to 2019 and fills the research gap in the identification of drivers of spatial differences in electricity consumption. The results showed: (1) Industry electricity consumption is the main driver of the increase in total electricity consumption, with economic growth and domestic electricity intensity being the primary and secondary factors behind this trend. The population scale also contributes to the increase. However, the effects of industrial structure, industry electricity intensity, and urbanization on total electricity consumption are not constant over time. This paper further decomposes the factors influencing changes in total electricity consumption in the provinces of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. (2) The spatial difference of electricity consumption between the other three provinces and Shanghai mainly comes from industry electricity consumption. (3) There are two kinds of conversion relations for the spatial-temporal differences of total electricity consumption. According to the conclusion, the targeted countermeasures and suggestions for total electricity consumption control are obtained.