Carbon Emission Efficiency and Low-Carbon Optimization in Shanxi Province under “Dual Carbon” Background

Abstract

As an important energy base in China, Shanxi Province, in its economic development, has depended heavily on coal resources. However, enormous coal consumption produces a large amount of carbon dioxide and an aggravated ecological problem. In this paper, the super efficiency slack-based measure and data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) model and Malmquist index were used to calculate the energy consumption and carbon emission efficiency of 11 prefecture-level cities in Shanxi in the period from 2000 to 2020. The results were as follows: (1) The primary form of energy consumption in Shanxi Province is the burning of coal, and the carbon emission efficiencies of the 11 prefecture-level cities are quite different. The technical efficiency, technological progress, and total factor productivity of Taiyuan and Shuozhou were found to be greater than 1 compared to other cities in Shanxi. (2) On the whole, although the carbon emission rate of Shanxi Province has slowed down, it still faces the problems of a large total emission base, high carbon emission intensity, and low efficiency of the unit carbon emission output. Industrial structure is the key factor restricting improvements in the efficiency of carbon emissions in Shanxi Province. (3) From the spatial and temporal evolution of the carbon emission efficiency in Shanxi Province, we can see that the carbon emission efficiency of the whole province gradually dispersed and improved from the central and northern regions to the southern regions during the period of 2000–2020. In order to achieve a low-carbon economy, Shanxi Province must optimize its industrial structure, accelerate research and development in low-carbon technologies, adjust the energy structure, and promote the construction of an energy supply system with clean low-carbon energy as the main source.

The impact of low-carbon emission policies on rural social governance under the concept of green life

“…As a result, policies such as mandatory carbon emissions, carbon taxes, carbon trading, and carbon offsets have emerged and become the main measures to control carbon dioxide emissions [3][4][5][6]. The purpose of a low-carbon emission policy is that the construction and development of the social and economic system can achieve low-carbon emissions [7][8]. Low carbon emissions can be defined in different ways.…”

Environmental Efficiency Evaluation of Construction Waste Generation Based on Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index

“…However, as the DEA method only evaluates efficiency from a static perspective, scholars further introduced the Malmquist index to dynamically analyze the efficiency. In this circumstance, some scholars have used both the DEA method and the Malmquist index in their respective studies [16][17][18][19][20][21]. The proposed methods have been proven to be effective, therefore, this study selects the Malmquist index based on the SBM model to analyze the dynamic trends of the environmental efficiency of construction waste generation in China.…”

Tax Policy and Total Factor Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from China’s VAT Reform

“…For example, studies have found that technological innovation [ 5 , 6 , 7 ], industrial structure [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], human capital [ 11 ], FDI [ 3 , 12 ], and urban agglomeration [ 10 ], etc., are among the more important factors influencing TFCEE. At the same time, some scholars have also investigated the impact of policy instruments on TFCEE, such as the low carbon city policy [ 12 ], dual carbon policy [ 9 ], and environmental regulation [ 13 ]. However, few studies have examined the impact of VAT policy reform on total factor carbon emission efficiency.…”

“…Secondly, this paper is the first to use China’s VAT reform as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the impact of tax incentives on the total factor carbon emission efficiency at the city level. Previous studies have focused more on the impact of policies on environmental regulation on carbon emission efficiency [ 9 , 13 ], and fewer studies have examined the effect of VAT reform on total factor carbon emission efficiency. In addition, by examining the impact of tax incentives on urban TFCEE with VAT as an exogenous shock, we can overcome the endogeneity problem of the model and help policymakers to assess the real impact of VAT reform better.…”