Regional total factor energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of industrial sector in China

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has resulted in great pressure on energy consumption, especially the energy intensive sector - the industrial sector. To achieve sustainable development, China has to consider how to promote energy efficiency to meet the demand of Chinese rapid economic growth, as the energy efficiency of China is relatively low. Meanwhile, the appeal of energy saving and emission reduction has been made by the Chinese central government. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the energy efficiency of industrial sector in China and to assess efficiency development probabilities. The framework of total factor energy efficiency index is adopted to determine the discrepancy of energy efficiency in Chinese industrial sector based on the provincial statistical data of industrial enterprises above designated size in 30 provinces from 2005 to 2009, with gross industrial output as the output value and energy consumption, average remaining balance of capital assets and average amount of working force as the input values. Besides, in considerate of the regional divide of China, namely eastern, central, and western, and economic development differences in each region, energy efficiency of each region is also analysed in this paper. The results show that there is room for China to improve its energy efficiency, especially western provinces which have large amount of energy input excess. Generally speaking, insufficient technological investment and fail of reaching best scale of manufacture are two factors preventing China from energy efficiency promotion. Based on our findings, some policy implications on the improvement of energy efficiency, particularly for economically underdeveloped regions in China, are also discussed.