IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i23p16103-d991173.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving Energy Efficiency in China Based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Cong Liu

    (College of Northeast Asian Studie, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China)

  • Zhendong Tian

    (College of Economics and Management, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China)

  • Bingyue Sun

    (College of International Business, Jilin International Studies University, Changchun 130117, China)

  • Guoli Qu

    (College of Economics and Management, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China)

Abstract

Currently, in China, the influence of energy efficiency problems on economic and social development is increasingly prominent. The factors influencing energy efficiency and improving them have become the focus of academics. In this study, the effects of allocation on technical progress, industrial structure, energy consumption structure, and economic levels of energy efficiency are discussed based on a sample of 30 provinces in China using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The results show that three paths could simulate high energy efficiency. The first path is dominated by economic level and energy consumption structure, with the assistance of industrial structure. The second path is dominated by economic level and energy consumption structure, with the assistance of technical progress. The third path is dominated by technical progress and industrial structure, with the assistance of economic level. None of the proposed four factors were required for high energy efficiency. Path 1 and path 2 formed the second-order equivalent configuration. In most provinces, high energy efficiency is stimulated through the path dominated by technical progress and industrial structure, assisted by economic level.

Suggested Citation

  • Cong Liu & Zhendong Tian & Bingyue Sun & Guoli Qu, 2022. "Improving Energy Efficiency in China Based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16103-:d:991173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16103/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16103/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phylipsen, G. J. M. & Blok, K. & Worrell, E., 1997. "International comparisons of energy efficiency-Methodologies for the manufacturing industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(7-9), pages 715-725.
    2. Zhang, Caiqing & Chen, Panyu, 2022. "Applying the three-stage SBM-DEA model to evaluate energy efficiency and impact factors in RCEP countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lundgren, Tommy & Marklund, Per-Olov & Zhang, Shanshan, 2016. "Industrial energy demand and energy efficiency – Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-152.
    2. Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan, 2005. "An analysis of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in countries of the Middle East and North Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(15), pages 2831-2842.
    3. Zhang, Zumeng & Ding, Liping & Wang, Chaofan & Dai, Qiyao & Shi, Yin & Zhao, Yujia & Zhu, Yuxuan, 2022. "Do operation and maintenance contracts help photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations perform better?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    4. Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Dunlop, Tessa & Giampietro, Mario, 2020. "Fallacies of energy efficiency indicators: Recognizing the complexity of the metabolic pattern of the economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Flues, Florens & Rübbelke, Dirk & Vögele, Stefan, 2013. "Energy Efficiency and Industrial Output: The Case of the Iron and Steel Industry," Energy: Resources and Markets 162379, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    6. Guangliang Li & Chunlan Tan & Weikun Zhang & Wolin Zheng & Yong Liu, 2023. "Carbon Emission Efficiency, Technological Progress, and Fishery Scale Expansion: Evidence from Marine Fishery in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    7. Ke, Jing & Price, Lynn & McNeil, Michael & Khanna, Nina Zheng & Zhou, Nan, 2013. "Analysis and practices of energy benchmarking for industry from the perspective of systems engineering," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 32-44.
    8. Schwob, Marcelo Rousseau Valença & Henriques Jr., Maurício & Szklo, Alexandre, 2009. "Technical potential for developing natural gas use in the Brazilian red ceramic industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(9), pages 1524-1531, September.
    9. Sudhakara Reddy, B. & Kumar Ray, Binay, 2011. "Understanding industrial energy use: Physical energy intensity changes in Indian manufacturing sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7234-7243.
    10. Perroni, Marcos G. & Gouvea da Costa, Sergio E. & Pinheiro de Lima, Edson & Vieira da Silva, Wesley & Tortato, Ubiratã, 2018. "Measuring energy performance: A process based approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 540-553.
    11. Azadeh, A. & Amalnick, M.S. & Ghaderi, S.F. & Asadzadeh, S.M., 2007. "An integrated DEA PCA numerical taxonomy approach for energy efficiency assessment and consumption optimization in energy intensive manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3792-3806, July.
    12. Bhadbhade, Navdeep & Yilmaz, Selin & Zuberi, Jibran S. & Eichhammer, Wolfgang & Patel, Martin K., 2020. "The evolution of energy efficiency in Switzerland in the period 2000–2016," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Perroni, Marcos G. & Gouvea da Costa, Sergio E. & Pinheiro de Lima, Edson & Vieira da Silva, Wesley, 2017. "The relationship between enterprise efficiency in resource use and energy efficiency practices adoption," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 108-119.
    14. Marcos Gon alves Perroni & S rgio Eduardo Gouv a da Costa & S rgio Eduardo Gouv a da Costa & Wesley Vieira da Silva & Edson Pinheiro de Lima & Edson Pinheiro de Lima & Claudimar Pereira da Veiga & Cla, 2016. "Analysis of Income Elasticities of Brazil s Energy Matrix," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 431-441.
    15. Lihua Hu & Yuanyuan Chen & Tao Fan, 2022. "The Influence of Government Subsidies on the Efficiency of Technological Innovation: A Panel Threshold Regression Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Li, Bo & Han, Yukai & Wang, Chensheng & Sun, Wei, 2022. "Did civilized city policy improve energy efficiency of resource-based cities? Prefecture-level evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    17. Giacone, E. & Mancò, S., 2012. "Energy efficiency measurement in industrial processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 331-345.
    18. Farla, Jacco C. M. & Blok, Kornelis, 2001. "The quality of energy intensity indicators for international comparison in the iron and steel industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 523-543, June.
    19. Ramirez, C.A. & Blok, K. & Neelis, M. & Patel, M., 2006. "Adding apples and oranges: The monitoring of energy efficiency in the Dutch food industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1720-1735, September.
    20. Siderius, Hans-Paul & Jeffcott, Stuart & Blok, Kornelis, 2012. "International benchmarking: Supplying the information for product efficiency policy makers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 389-398.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16103-:d:991173. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.