CO2 Emission Efficiency Research Articles

Operational and environmental efficiency of U.S. oil and gas companies towards energy transition policies: A comparative empirical analysis

AbstractGlobal warming and climate change have been critical global issues in recent years. The evaluation of environmental and operational efficiency would be an important first step towards sustainable development. Renewable energies are playing an increasingly important role in the energy sector. Following energy transition policies, oil and gas companies are gradually transforming into energy companies. First, this article measures the operational and environmental efficiency of 45 U.S. oil and gas companies over the period 2000–2018. Second, this research aims to assess the effect of renewable energies on the two types of efficiency. Two methods are used in this research: the true fixed‐ model applied for measuring the efficiency scores and evaluate the inefficiency determinants, and the system generalised method of moments approach to verify the effect of energy and environmental policy on both the types of efficiencies and to test the robustness of our results. The results reveal that the overall average operational efficiency (desirable output) of the U.S. oil and gas companies is 76% for a period of 19 years, while the overall average level of CO2 emissions efficiency (undesirable output) of the oil and gas companies is 79%. The results highlight that U.S. oil and gas companies have begun to transition to low CO2 emission in recent years. Furthermore, the biofuel, hydroelectric power, wind power and solar energy contribute to promote the environmental efficiency of oil and gas companies.

Novel anaerobic digestion and carbon dioxide emissions efficiency analysis of food waste treatment based on SBM-DEA model

With the development of the world economy and society, the living standards of residents have been improved, along with a large amount of food waste and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In the face of global warming and energy shortages, food waste can be used as high-value bio-energy raw materials which is also an effective way to reduce CO2 emissions. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel anaerobic digestion and CO2 emissions efficiency analysis based on a Slacks-Based Measure integrating Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) model to evaluate and optimize the process structure of anaerobic treatment of food waste. The total feed volume and the discharge volume of liquid digestate are taken as inputs, and the total methane (CH4) production volume is taken as the desirable output and CO2 emissions are regarded as the undesirable output to build the biogas production and CO2 emissions evaluation model during the anaerobic digestion process. Finally, the proposed method is used in the actual anaerobic digestion process. The results show that the overall efficiency values in January, April, May, and June in 2020 are higher than those in other months. At the same time, due to the optimal allocation of slack variables of inputs and undesirable outputs, the efficiency values of other inefficient anaerobic digestion days can be improved.

Is there any convergence in the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines?

This paper examines the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines in the years 2011 and 2018 by using the Atmosfair Airline Index. This index gives reliable results since it encompasses data from more than 100 airlines and considers important variables in the calculation of CO2 emissions. Firstly, we investigate the regional differences and the effect of the share of government ownership in the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines. These factors have not been taken into account in other studies by using such a comprehensive index. Secondly, by utilizing the Barro and Sala-i Martin model that is commonly used to examine the regional income convergence model in economics, we also check whether there is a convergence in the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines or not. As a result, in terms of efficiency growth, we find that airlines in Europe are more successful compared to airlines from other regions. Furthermore, increases in the share of government ownership in airlines negatively affect the CO2 emission efficiency in Asia, whereas it is insignificant in Europe and America. Moreover, there is no convergence in the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines from all regions. This shows that low-efficient airlines are not catching up with high-efficient airlines. Lastly, we find that charter airlines are more efficient in terms of CO2 emissions.

Climate change, where do we come from and where are we going? European aviation sector behaviour

Climate change has caused great pressure on the air transport sector. European airlines are subject to a pioneering CO2 emissions regime. This paper sets out, first, to ascertain whether the European aviation sector has adapted since the launch of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Second, based on the answer to the above, we predict the situation of the sector in the medium and long term. The study sample was formed by the top 10 European airlines. The years covered are those since the inclusion of the airline sector in the emissions regime (2012–2019). Clusters were defined by eco-efficiency level using K-means cluster analysis and the Markov model was applied to predict future behaviour. The results have shown, on the one hand, that the larger airlines were the most eco-efficient throughout the study period. On the other hand, companies focused on a low-cost strategy have behaved worse since, although they have also experienced significant improvements in their use of air traffic capacity, even above the large airlines, they have not evolved to a higher level of CO2 emission efficiency and even getting worse in some cases. However, in the medium and long term, our estimate for the sector is a trend towards minimal eco-efficiency in CO2 emissions. As governments continue to increase emission limitation requirements, in order not to jeopardise the sustainability of the aviation sector, it is advisable to encourage investments in the development of biofuels and their supply chain, international agreements to optimise flight routes or projects to improve the energy efficiency of new engines.

Analyzing the Driving Forces behind CO2 Emissions in Energy-Resource-Poor and Fossil-Fuel-Centered Economies: Case Studies from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea

Based on the strong similarities between energy-resource-poor and fossil-fuel-centered economies (e.g., Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) in terms of economy, culture, and energy usage characteristics, they should be analyzed collectively. This study adopted two-tier input-output structural decomposition analysis to identify the driving forces behind CO2 emissions to these countries to the formulation of effective environmental policy. Data from the World Input-Output Database was used to decompose relative changes in CO2 emissions into a range of technological advances, factor substitution, and final demand effects. Technological advances in energy (direct) contributed to a 77% reduction in Taiwan and a 34% reduction in South Korea. This is a clear indication that improving energy efficiency via technological advances should be a priority. In Japan in particular, there was a 22% reduction in CO2 emissions attributable to technological advances in materials; hence, it is recommended that Taiwan and South Korea work to extensively develop eco-industrial parks to create industry clusters to promote resource/energy efficiency and reductions in CO2 emissions. Decomposition results based on factor substitution revealed that a variety of strategies will be required, such as switching to fuels that are less carbon intensive, promoting the adoption of renewable energies, and implementing clean-coal technologies.

Characterization of sustainable ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) including expanded perlite

In this study, the performance of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) containing expanded perlite powder (or expanded perlite sand) has been investigated comprehensively. The rheological properties, workability, mechanical properties and durability are determined. Results indicate that the replacement of cement by EP powder significantly reduces the viscosity of UHPC, shortens the V-funnel time, and increases the slump flow. Meanwhile, comparable durability and slightly reduced strength can be obtained with up to 60% EP powder addition. The hydration heat, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicated that EP exhibited pozzolanic activity and promoted the early hydration process. Compared with the effect of the addition of EP powder, the replacement of quartz sand by EP aggregate has no distinct effect on the workability, while leads to a relatively larger strength loss . The more obvious mechanical degradation in specimens with 75% and 100% EP sand is due to the fiber settlement. Additionally, the CO2 emission and cement efficiency value have been calculated, where the results confirm that UHPC containing EP powder as cement replacement (or EP sand as quartz sand replacement) is of remarkable potential to be used as a sustainable building material.

The impact of media reports on energy and environmental efficiency in China: evidence from modified dynamic DEA with undesirable outputs

BackgroundRapid economic growth in China has resulted in a commensurate increase in energy consumption, which in turn has seen an increase in environmental pollution problems. Past research has tended to focus on energy and environmental efficiency analyses and has rarely examined the media influence on environmental protection efforts. Further, most studies have used static models and ignored the dynamic changes over time.MethodsTo go some way to filling this research gap, this study developed a modified undesirable Dynamic DEA model that included air quality index (AQI) and CO2 indicators to explore the relationships between energy, the environment, and media report efficiencies in 31 Chinese cities from 2013 to 2016.ResultsIt was found that: (1) Chongqing, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai had efficiencies of 1, but Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Xining and Yinchuan needed significant improvements; (2) Chongqing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Nanning and Shanghai had relatively high media efficiencies, but the other cities had low efficiencies and required improvements; (3) the CO2 emissions efficiencies in most cities were better than the air quality index efficiencies; and 4. the media reports in most cities were found to have a more positive impact on the CO2 emissions efficiency than on the AQI efficiency.ConclusionsEnvironmental awareness enhances civilian health and promotes economic growth. Therefore, as the news media should be responsible for promoting environmental protection, they need to increase their environmental pollution coverage. It was found that the environmental pollution media report quality and especially air pollution reports needed improvements, and greater media coverage on environmental pollution and awareness was needed.

Straw and residual film management enhances crop yield and weakens CO2 emissions in wheat\u2013maize intercropping system

Higher CO2 emissions and lower crop productivity are becoming thorny problems and restricted sustainable development of agriculture in arid inland areas. Intercropping has been shown to enhance crop productivity. However, Intercropping generally requires more input that led to an increase in CO2 emissions. It is unknown whether designing tillage and film mulching in reduction could decrease soil CO2 emissions in intercropping. Therefore, we integrated no tillage combined with residual film mulching and straw returning into wheat–maize intercropping. The maximal soil CO2 fluxes (Fs) with intercropping was decreased by 12–21% compared to sole maize. Residual film mulching combined with straw returning (NTSMI) significantly reduced average Fs during the entire period of crop growth by 14–15%, compared with the conventional tillage (CTI). Soil CO2 emissions (CE) with intercropping was 18–20% less than that with sole maize and the NTSMI reduced CE by 12–16% compared to the CTI. The NTSMI boosted total grain yields (GY) by 14–17%, compared with the CTI. Wheat–maize intercropping significantly enhanced soil CO2 emission efficiency (CEE) by 33–41% in comparison to sole maize, and CEE with NTSMI was increased by 29–40% than that of CTI. A quadratic function for aboveground biomass (BA) combined with two linear functions for soil temperature (Ts) and soil water-filled pore space (WFPS) was suitable for the monitored results. A multiple regression model composed of the above three factors can explain 73–91% of the Fs variation. Crop biomass accumulation at the time of maximal Fs was less with intercropping compared with sole maize. The structural equation indicated that the BA synergistic effect on CEE through combining negative effects on CE and positive effects on GY in intercropping. In conclusion, no tillage with straw returning and residual film mulching in wheat–maize intercropping was confirmed to be an optimum management practice to reducing soil CO2 emissions and enhancing soil CO2 emission efficiency in arid inland agroecosystem.

CO2 emission reduction potential in China from combined effects of structural adjustment of economy and efficiency improvement

China has committed to decreasing its emission intensity by 60% to 65% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. It is of great importance to evaluate the CO2 emission reduction potential to quantify the amount of CO2 emissions that can be less generated and the amount that should be balanced out. Economic structure adjustment and CO2 emission efficiency improvement will contribute to mitigating CO2 emissions, which always happen simultaneously in the real world. However, few studies consider these issues simultaneously, which can lead to inaccurate estimation. A scenario analysis framework is proposed to estimate their combined effects, and an indicator is proposed to measure the technical feasibility of achieving the reduction potential. A set of scenarios are designed based on this framework and we find that: (1) to achieve carbon neutrality, 6161.16 Mt of CO2 emissions of China can be less generated compared to 2017 levels by significantly increasing its tertiary industry share to high-income entities’ level and adopting the most advanced technology to improve emission efficiency; the remaining 2732.40 Mt of CO2 emissions should be removed by carbon offsetting. Regarding emission intensity, 81.39% can be reduced compared with the 2005 level; and (2) Technical feasibility analysis shows Sichuan, Chongqing, and Anhui have the largest technical barriers in achieving the reduction potential. The proposed scenario analysis framework can provide a reference not only for China to achieve the emission mitigation pledges, but for countries with significant technological differences and structure adjustment to formulate mitigation strategies.

Renewable energies and operational and environmental efficiencies of the US oil and gas companies: A True Fixed Effect model

Energy economics and environment protection are important issues in a modern society that aspires to aim at sustainable development. The evaluation of environmental and operational efficiency would be an important first step towards sustainable development. Renewable energies, especially hydroelectricity, geothermal, solar and wind, are playing an increasingly important role in the energy sector. Therefore, oil & gas companies are progressively transforming into energy companies following an energy transition policy. This raises the question whether the renewable energies promote the environmental and operational efficiency of petroleum companies. First, this paper examines two types of efficiency measures – operational and environmental – for 45 US oil & gas companies during the period 2000–2018 using on the true fixed effect (TFE) model. Second, this research aims to study the effect of renewable energies on both types of efficiency. The results reveal that the overall average operational efficiency (desirable output) of the US oil & gas companies is 76% for a period of 19 years, while the overall average level of CO2 emissions efficiency (undesirable output) of the oil & gas companies is 79%. The results highlight that US oil & gas companies have begun to transition to low CO2 emission in recent years. Furthermore, the renewable energies and biomass energies contribute to destroying the operational efficiency and to promote the environmental efficiency of oil & gas companies.

Developing effective CO2 and SO2 mitigation strategy based on marginal abatement costs of coal-fired power plants in China

This study proposes a novel analysis framework to investigate the CO2 and SO2 emission efficiency, emission reduction potential, and marginal abatement cost (MAC) of 316 coal-fired power plants in China. The comprehensive analysis framework is based on the combined approach of utilizing the directional output distance function (DODF) and parametric linear programming (PLP). The average emission efficiencies of CO2 and SO2 were 0.48 and 0.61, respectively, which indicates that China’s coal-fired power plants have a large potential to reduce CO2 and SO2 emissions, on average by 52% and 39%, respectively. In 2010, the average CO2 and SO2 emissions reduction potential for the 316 investigated power plants were 1,517 kt and 3,773 t, respectively. The average MAC prices for CO2 and SO2 were estimated to be 598 yuan/tonne and 22,401 yuan/tonne, respectively, indicating that the reduction of such emissions is very expensive. Furthermore, I formulated an optimization problem for maximizing CO2 and SO2 emission reductions under the governmental budget constraint. Solving this optimization problem yielded the total cost for the maximum reductions of CO2 and SO2 emissions, the maximum possible reductions for CO2 and SO2 emissions for each allocated budget scale, and the optimal budget allocation for each power plant at a given budget scale. I finally suggest effective mitigation strategies for CO2 and SO2 emissions generated from China’s coal-fired power plants.

ESTIMATING THE POTENTIAL CO2EMISSION REDUCTION IN 97 CONTRACTING COUNTRIES OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT

“The common but differentiated responsibilities” requires that participating countries in the Paris Agreement need to clarify their national emission reduction priorities and develop practical and feasible plans based on their local conditions. This paper aims to estimate the CO2emission efficiency and the potential emission reduction of the Paris Agreement contracting countries and identify the key influencing factors of CO2emission efficiency for the period of 1991–2014. A nonradial directional distance function, the metafrontier approach, and the bootstrapped truncated regression model are used. The following are the main conclusions: (1) China makes the highest annual potential CO2emission reduction of 2133.13 billion tons. (2) The technology gap appears to be a major contributor to the potential CO2emission reductions in the low income group (82.87%) and the lower–middle income group (66.01%), and thus these economies should pursue technological innovation to improve carbon emission efficiency; the potential CO2emission reductions in other groups are mainly the result of management inefficiency (with 57.52% and 78.38% of potential emission reductions by the upper–middle income and high income countries coming from management inefficiency). Therefore, some countries in the specific income group exhibit different emission reduction focus. (3) According to a regression analysis on the CO2emission efficiency contributing factors, the progress of total factor productivity and improvement of management level can improve the CO2emission efficiency. This study might be the first attempt to decompose the potential CO2emission reduction of these countries and provides each country with targeted, effective emission reduction priorities.

Soil microbial biomass, CO2 and NH3 emission and nitrogen use efficiency in a sandy soil amended with recycled dairy products

Re-cycling of wastes has many advantages to sustainable development, especially in arid and semi-arid conditions, where organic materials decompose with a high rate causing increases in gas emissions. The aims of this study were to explore the impact of expired dairy products (EDP) on soil microbial biomass and gas emissions from a sandy soil. The expired dairy products were converted to an organic fertilizer and the extracted fertilizer was evaluated in pot and incubation experiments as a nitrogen source for zucchini plants ( Cucurbita pepo L ). The trial consisted of four treatments i.e., control without any fertilization (C), urea (IF), EDP, and mixture of urea and EDP (MIX). EDP and MIX caused remarkable increases in nutrients availability and leaf uptake compared with C. EDP caused a 17% increase in the cation exchange capacity (CEC), in the other hand it reduced the soil pH by 8% compared with C. The maximum growth was found in zucchini plants that were fertilized with EDP or MIX. EDP and MIX increased the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by 37 and 25%, respectively, compared with IF. EDP improved the microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen (MBC and MBN) and this confirmed the eco-friendly behavior of EDP. EDP increased MBC and MBN by 20 and 21% compared with the inorganic fertilization. EDP increased the CO 2 emission and minimized NH 3 volatilization from the sandy soil. The extracted organic fertilizer is able to supply zucchini plants with its nutrient requirements; moreover, it is an ideal solution to recycle the expired dairy products. • Expired dairy products were converted to an organic fertilizer (EDP). • EDP enhanced the availability and uptake of nutrients. • EDP increased nitrogen use efficiency by 37% above urea fertilizer. • EDP enhanced the soil microbial biomass. • EDP increased the CO 2 emission and minimized NH 3 volatilization.

Evaluation of CO2 emissions and energy use with different container terminal layouts

Sustainable development of container terminals is based on energy efficiency and reduction in CO2 emissions. This study estimated the energy consumption and CO2 emissions in container terminals according to their layouts. Energy consumption was calculated based on utility data as well as fuel and electricity consumptions for each container-handling equipment in the container terminal. CO2 emissions were estimated using movement modality based on the number of movements of and distance travelled by each container-handling equipment. A case study involving two types of container terminal layouts i.e. parallel and perpendicular layouts, was conducted. The contributions of each container-handling equipment to the energy consumption and CO2 emissions were estimated and evaluated using statistical analysis. The results of the case study indicated that on the CO2 emissions in parallel and perpendicular layouts were relatively similar (within the range of 16–19 kg/TEUs). These results indicate that both parallel and perpendicular layouts are suitable for future ports based on sustainable development. The results can also be used for future planning of operating patterns and layout selection in container terminals.

Pollution halo or pollution haven: assessing the role of foreign direct investment on energy conservation and emission reduction

This paper uses spatial econometric and the threshold effect models to study the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China’s energy conservation and emissions reduction. We use provincial-level data on pollutants (CO2, wastewater emission, exhaust emission, and waste emission) available from 2001 to 2015. Results indicated that FDI not only promotes China’s “energy conservation,” but also improves China’s CO2 emission efficiency and environmental efficiency. We find that export-oriented foreign companies can significantly improve China’s energy efficiency and water quality. FDI enhances energy efficiency through eco-oriented technological progress and water quality, air quality through production-oriented technological progress. We also find that the impact of FDI on China’s energy conservation and emission reduction has significant threshold effects. Our findings contradict the often believed “pollution haven hypothesis.”

Eco-friendly and economically optimal design model (EEODM) to reduce the CO2 emissions and the cost of long-span waffle slabs

As the emission of CO2 is directly proportional to the nature of the materials used in the construction of buildings, an eco-friendly economic design is required for waffle slabs used in large buildings such as stores, shopping malls. In this study, a multi-objective optimization design model, denoted as an eco-friendly and economically optimal design model (EEODM), is proposed to reduce the CO2 emissions and costs of long-span waffle slabs. The developed model was analyzed to determine the change in CO2 emissions and costs with respect to design variables in 20 types of long-span waffle slabs. Based on the results of the analysis, CO2 emission efficiency analysis (CEEA) and cost-efficiency analysis (CEA) are proposed as the new qualitative scales to determine environmental and economic feasibility, respectively. Through CEEA and CEA, a new design standard is proposed to overcome the limitations of existing waffle forms. To verify the applicability of the EEODM, the model proposed in this study was applied to the actual waffle slab of Gimpo International Airport in Korea. The results indicate that the two proposed waffle forms reduced CO2 emissions and costs compared to the existing sections of the airport.

Efficiency of rice production and CO2 emissions: A study of selected Asian countries using DDF and SBM-DEA

The present study aims to measure the efficiency of desirable output (Rice) in the presence of undesirable output (CO2), for selected Asian countries. An attempt has also been made to identify how great a reduction in CO2 emission is required to make agricultural practices efficient and sustainable. DDF and SBM-DEA are used to calculate the efficiency of 28 Asian countries for the period 2002 to 2014. To compare the efficiency of the models with and without the presence of undesired output and to calculate bias, if any, in model selection, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. Results indicate that the exclusion of undesired output leads to biased estimates. The efficiency scores show that in eleven countries rice production was environmentally efficient. For the remaining seventeen inefficient countries, a considerable amount of reduction in CO2 emissions and fertilizer use are required to make the production process efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Industrial ecosystems of the world: assessment of ecological development

Sustainable development has become the mainstream of the global economy in recent years. It is focused on creating the mechanisms to ensure climate-neutral industrial growth through the use of advanced digital production technologies. Under the influence of modern technologies, the processes of formation and further development of industrial ecosystems are intensifying, which should be studied in ecological and technological contexts. The new climate agenda makes the determining of new perspectives and problems of industrial ecosystem development from the standpoint of a national industry increasingly relevant. The article presents an empirical analysis of the development of industrial ecosystems in 58 countries within two groups - countries with developed industry and countries with developing industry, based on the World Bank classification of countries and economies by level of industrialization. The methodological approach to assessing the environmental friendliness of industrial ecosystems has been improved by identifying the relationship between gross value added in industry and the efficiency of CO2 emissions in creating value in the manufacturing sector, the use of which allows establishing significant differences in achieving the goals of sustainable development between different countries in terms of industrial and technological development. The results of the study confirm the thesis on the active use of modern technologies in the field of environmental impact in countries with developed industries on the way to greater compliance of their industrial ecosystems with the principles of biological ones. Key issues are outlined and Ukraine's prospects for industrial growth based on sustainable development, along with a significant improvement in production technologies, are identified.

Exploring the operational and environmental performance of Chinese airlines: A two-stage undesirable SBM-NDEA approach

Rapid economic development in China have resulted in the booming demand for comfortable and fast travel mode, and promoted the rapid development of aviation industry in recent years. As an important source of greenhouse gas emissions, airlines’ operational efficiency and environmental issues have been widely concerned in achieving the goal of cleaner production of aviation industry. Due to the limitations of traditional DEA approach, which known as a black box, the specific reasons for the inefficiency of airlines cannot be explored. This paper contributed to current literature by introducing the two-stage undesirable Network Slack-Based Measure (NSBM) approach to explore Chinese airlines’ multi-stage efficiency: production stage and profit stage, and try to open the black boxes and further explore the characteristics and driving forces of the operational performance in China’s aviation industry. Meanwhile, this paper incorporates CO2 emissions into the calculation by combining the undesirable Slack-Based Measure (SBM) approach and measure the energy efficiency and CO2 emission efficiency to evaluate their environmental performance on the basis of the two-stage framework. The empirical results on nine listed Chinese airlines from 2013 to 2018 showed that all airlines perform better in earning economic profits from carrying capacity, while the low production efficiency in converting production factors into carrying capacity limits the operational efficiency of Chinese airlines. The energy efficiency of Chinese airlines ranks in line with CO2 emission efficiency, while the economic and environmental performance of low-cost airlines remain the best. Further discussion indicated that smaller private airlines tend to achieved better economic and environmental performance through low-cost operations, while the top three airlines in market share need further improvement in operational efficiency and environmental performance. The former should pay attention to the upgrading of flights to ensure a certain market share while maintaining its low-cost operation mode, and the latter needs to improve its management and cost control level to achieve clean development.

The metabolic transition of material use and carbon emissions in economically growing Asia: Evidence from 1971 to 2016.

The efficient consumption of material and energy resources, with minimal carbon emissions and maximum economic output, is globally significant. This study examines the metabolic transition of resource use and CO2 emissions in nine of the largest economies of East, South, and Southeast Asia. A data envelopment model has been developed to assess the efficiency of domestic material consumption and CO2 emissions during 1971-2016 at three levels of analysis. The single-country analysis resultsreveal that China has made the most rapid efficiency transformation during 1971-2016 followed by Japan and South Korea, while the rest of the countries in South and Southeast Asia have not illustrated significant improvements. Results from the analysis of socio-economically grouped countries show that Japan and Bangladesh are the relatively efficient economies in East and South Asia, respectively. Among Southeast Asian countries, both Indonesia and Malaysia were found to be efficient. Based on the regional analysis comparing all nine countries, Japan has consistently remained a relatively efficient economy while China-despite rapid improvements-remains a relatively inefficient economy. To this end, Japan had the lowest material and CO2 intensities compared to all other countries. Based on our results, technological advancement, industry structure, and scale of traded goods and services were found to have a significant impact (the impact of per capita income was less pronounced) on a country's effective resource utilization and carbon mitigation.