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Guiding industries to produce in an effective and environmentally sustainable manner has become a key issue for governments around the world. Over the past 15 years, series of regional and industrial development policies have been introduced by the Chinese government. This has influenced the geographical distribution and energy efficiency performance of China’s industries. This paper quantifies the influence of enterprises geographical distribution on energy efficiency improvement in the paper industry and aims at providing some helpful suggestions on industrial development to policy makers. The main results show that, firstly, the paper industry in eastern China shows obvious characteristic of agglomeration. The average location quotient is 1.2278. However, following the industrial and regional development policies, the characteristic of agglomeration is weakening. Secondly, only when agglomeration reaches a certain level (location quotient is above 0.5447) will industrial agglomeration positively impact on industrial energy efficiency improvement (a 1% increase in agglomeration will increase dynamic energy efficiency by at least 0.23%). Thirdly, the regional development policies carried out by the government slow the pace of energy efficiency improvement in China’s paper industry. The empirical results indicate that the government needs to consider regional characteristics and consciously guide industrial enterprises to concentrate in the dominant area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s paper industry consumes a lot of energy and emits huge amounts of pollutions. The Chinese government over the past decades has done a lot to promote energy efficiency of the industry. This paper studies the impact of industrial polices to improve energy efficiency. The energy efficiency change is firstly studied under a framework of total factor efficiency. On this basis, different econometric models are built to discuss the detailed energy efficiency characteristics of the paper industry. The main results are as follow: (i) ownership structure did influence the energy efficiency, but the influence is different in different conditions; (ii) energy efficiency of the paper industry can be improved by economies of scale; (iii) market competition can to some extent overcome the motivation and supervision problem that often occur in state-owned companies; (iv) energy price cannot play the role of resource allocation well in China. Finally, based on our findings, some suggestions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce energy use and achieve a low carbon production in pulp and paper industry (PPI), it is essential to improve energy efficiency in pulp and paper production. In this study, the energy savings from the PPI were estimated based on a techno-economic analysis by EAGER tool for PPI at the factory level. The structure and implement procedure were introduced initially. Two typical pulp and paper mills from China were determined to estimate the impact of selected energy efficiency technologies (EETs) on energy savings as the cases in the base year. One Factory (A) only produced paper products (i.e. corrugated paper and Kraft linerboard) while the other Factory (B) also produced market pulp besides sack paper. In totally 22 selected EETs were applied to assess their saving potential in Factory A, and 29 measures were applied in Factory B. The results show that 2290 TJ and 1179 TJ of final energy could be saved annually in Factory A and B, corresponding to reduction of 29.4% and 13.6% total energy consumption respectively for the case factories. The CO 2 reduction potential was 32.3% for Factory A compared with that of 16.6% in Factory B. It suggests that the pulp and paper mills should encouraged to use this method estimating energy saving potential, and improve their energy efficiency with suggested measures in order to reduce energy consumption and related carbon emissions further in the coming years. • Energy savings of pulp and paper production were estimated at the factory level. • A techno-economic evaluation tool was applied to access the energy savings and carbon emission reductions. • Two typical pulp and paper factories from China were investigated to estimate their energy savings in the base year. • It is useful to assess energy savings and select feasible EETs in achieving energy saving and emission reduction targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the path of industrial eco-efficiency (IEE) needs to be re-examined from a multi-dimensional perspective, this research opens the internal "black box" of China's industrial eco-economic system driven by sustainable development goals (SDGs) and decomposes IEE into industrial production and sustainable development stages. It further divides the industrial production stage into two parallel subsystems of water use efficiency (WUE) and energy efficiency (EE) and derives SDG6 efficiency (SDG 6 E) and SDG7 efficiency (SDG 7 E) in the sustainable development stage respectively. The paper proposes a meta two-stage parallel entropy dynamic DDF-DEA model to re-measure IEE of 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, discusses the relationship between overall efficiency and stage efficiency, and by using the Tobit model explores various types of influencing factors by subregion. The results show that the modified DDF-DEA model can explore China's IEE more accurately under SDGs. China's IEE is more stable from 2015 to 2021, with the efficiency value always fluctuating between 0.59 and 0.64, the overall level is low, and there is more room for improvement. There are significant inter-provincial differences in IEE and efficiency inertia. In more than 75% of the provinces SDG 7 E constrains IEE improvement, while the dynamic evolution of IEE and its subsystem efficiency varies across regions. Environmental regulation is a common factor affecting IEE across the country and in the east, central, and west regions, whereas the level of economic development, openness to the outside world, and urbanization rate are differential factors affecting IEE across the country and in the three major regions. This study offers new perspectives for exploring the path of IEE enhancement and providing empirical references for the collaborative construction of industrial ecological civilization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether industrial agglomeration can promote an increase in energy efficiency is of great importance to not only China’s energy conservation and emissions reduction plans, but also China’s future sustainable development. This paper uses statistical data from 285 cities, from 2004 to 2013, to analyze the effect of industrial agglomeration on energy efficiency. The spatial autocorrelation tests show that there is significant spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in urban energy efficiency. Although dynamic spatial econometric results show that industrial agglomeration can promote an increase in energy efficiency from a country level, there are significant differences at a regional level. In the east, the effect of industrial agglomeration on energy efficiency has a threshold effect, but in central and western areas, industrial agglomeration can promote the increase of energy efficiency, with the positive effect in western areas greater than that in central areas. Finally, based on the research, this paper puts forward concrete suggestions to enhance energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of the implementation of smart city policy (SCP) on energy efficiency (EE) in China. For this purpose, we have developed a non-convex metafrontier data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to measure EE, and empirically examine the impacts of SCP on China's EE using Difference-in-Differences (DID) analysis, using a dataset of 251 cities between 2003 and 2016. Results show that there exists significant regional heterogeneity across cities, with the SCP exerting a significant positive effect on EE, indicating that the SCP can effectively improve EE during the study period. These findings are robust to different sub-sample, energy efficiency alternative measures, estimation strategies, and Baidu Search Index. Based on empirical results, the implications of SCP are outlined. • Energy efficiency measures of 251 Chinese prefectural-level cities are estimated. • Eastern region performs the best, followed by the central and western regions. • The effects of smart city policy on energy efficiency is investigated using DID method. • The smart city policy can effectively improve energy efficiency during the study period. • Empirical results are robust to different sub-sample, energy efficiency alternative measures, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the linkages among total Sulphur dioxide (SO 2) emissions, total GDP and energy efficiency using China's provincial panel data from 2002 to 2015. We investigate total emissions rather than per capita emissions or ambient concentrations since it is total emissions that the environment cares about. Energy efficiency is estimated using stochastic frontier analysis and decomposed into both persistent and transient efficiency. We then investigate the long-run dynamics among SO 2 emissions, economic growth, and energy efficiency by employing the panel-based error correction model and taking the effects of cyclical variations into account. Our analysis shows that GDP has a positive impact on total SO 2 emissions in the short run and gains in energy efficiency have a significant negative effect on emissions in the long run. By controlling the effects of the business cycle, the effects of GDP on emissions remain positive in both the short and long run. The cross-sectional analysis provides similar insights. We argue that economic growth itself is an emission generator. Therefore, the government needs to establish a long-run strategy to curb emissions by improving energy efficiency. Image 1029 • We estimate the linkages among sulphur dioxide emissions, GDP and energy efficiency. • Energy efficiency is estimated by SFA and decomposed into persistent and transient efficiency. • We employ the panel-based error correction model with cyclical variations and structural break. • GDP has a positive impact on emissions in both the short and long run. • Gains in energy efficiency affects emissions negatively in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of urbanization on provincial energy efficiency in China. Using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces between 2003 and 2014, we adopt a stochastic frontier model to estimate energy efficiency in China, and apply a series of spatial panel data models to tackle spatial dependence of energy efficiency between provinces. Our results show that the overall impact of urbanization on energy efficiency is negative in China. These results are established after controlling for spatial correlation and other confounding factors, and are also robust to various model specifications. We also document that the impact of urbanization on provincial energy efficiency manifests through both a direct negative impact induced by the focal province's urbanization process, and an indirect positive spillover effect caused by urbanization in adjacent areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the incentives for pursuing a low-carbon electricity sector that are embedded in China's regulatory and policy framework. To do so, we first describe the industry structure and the regulatory framework. Second, we explicitly review the policies that were developed to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. These policies range from the introduction of legal requirements to undertake particular actions to pricing mechanism and financial incentives. Based on this, we tease out the challenges faced by a sector governed by a myriad of complex arrangements, different institutions and agents who face different and often conflicting incentives for pursuing environmental and energy efficiency objectives. Finally, we provide suggestions to scientifically set up low-carbon policies and to achieve the expected goals with minimum social cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental efficiency improvement has played a crucial role in the theory and practice of stimulating clean production. This paper analyzes the interaction between environmental efficiency and output efficiency, particularly whether they reinforce each other or compete with each other, on the basis of a data set of 137 firms in the textile industry in China's Jiangsu Province. In the first stage, generalized data envelopment analysis is applied to calculate efficiency measures of energy, waste water, waste gas, soot, and output efficiency taking capital, labor, water, and energy as inputs, industrial output value as desirable output, and waste water discharges, waste gas and soot emissions as undesirable outputs. In the second stage analysis, a structural equation model with latent variables is applied to analyze the interaction between the latent variable environmental efficiency, measured by the four observed environmental indicators, and output efficiency, taking also into account the endogenous variable profit. The main outcomes of the structural equation model are the following. Firstly, environmental efficiency negatively impacts on profit while profit positively impacts on environmental efficiency. In a similar vein, output efficiency is found to depress profit while profit increases output efficiency. Thirdly, environmental efficiency has a positive impact on output efficiency while there is no effect of output efficiency on environmental efficiency. Fourthly, taxes impair a firm's output efficiency. From the findings it follows that a swap of general taxes for an energy tax is likely to improve both output efficiency and energy efficiency. The latter outcome implies a win–win situation which will facilitate the further implementation and adoption of environmental policy. Finally, the paper illustrates the applicability of structural equation modeling in efficiency analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvement of coal consumption efficiency is very important both for China in solving its problems of energy security and environmental pollution and for the world in addressing the issue of greenhouse gas emissions. Using a total-factor framework, this paper employs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to evaluate the coal consumption efficiency of six energy intensive sub-industries in China in 2015. Coal consumption efficiency is factorized into economic efficiency and environmental efficiency, with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and industrial smoke, dust and soot emissions treated as undesirable outputs of energy consumptions. The results show the following. (1) Of the six energy intensive sub-industries studied, two exhibit both DEA-effective coal economic efficiency and coal environmental efficiency. Coal economic efficiency is found to be greater than coal environmental efficiency, indicating that the benefits of economic efficiency have masked the negative effects of the environmental impact. China should therefore pay more attention to the clean utilization of coal. (2) Low environmental efficiency mainly resulted from the joint effects of pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency; therefore, enterprises in these industries must engage in management efforts to improve their ability to manage large enterprises. (3) The energy intensive industries characterized by coal environmental efficiency that failed to achieve pure technological effectiveness all exhibited input redundancy or output inadequacy of varying degrees while showing a potential for energy conservation and emissions reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, performance evaluation of coal-fired power generation with high pollution based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) method has become an advanced research hotspot in China. Instead of a single process in previous studies, we divide the production system of coal-fired power plants into the production process and pollutants abatement process, with pollutant intermediates as the link to connect the two processes in the current paper. Then we present a new two-stage network DEA model to evaluate the performance of China's coal-fired power generation by improving the link constraint that different with traditional network DEA approaches. Meanwhile, we conduct an empirical study to verify the applicability of the proposed approach and find that the proposed model is more effective than the previous models in evaluating the inefficiencies of coal-fired power generation. The empirical results also show that: the inefficiencies of the pollutants abatement process bring poor performance of the regional coal-fired power plants; and the efficiency results vary greatly among different areas of China, efficiency is best in the west area but the worst in the northeast area. Finally, some appropriate propositions are present in order to create better conditions for China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because industrial sectors in China are energy-intensive, improving energy efficiency and promoting energy savings in these sectors are of great importance for the further sustainable development of China’s economy. Using a proposed meta-frontier data envelopment analysis (DEA), this paper analyzes the total-factor energy efficiency and energy savings potential in China’s provincial industrial sectors for the years 2000–2014 from three perspectives, namely, the technology gap, management, and scale. The results indicate that (1) driven by technological progress, energy efficiency during the sample period was greatly improved, though the expansion of technology gaps between regions and the decline in scale efficiency represented two significant handicaps; (2) the current energy efficiency in China’s industrial sectors remains extremely low, indicating that there is considerable potential for energy efficiency improvement and energy savings; and (3) the sources of energy inefficiency and energy savings potential in China’s industrial sectors exhibit spatially distinct characteristics. Accordingly, it is determined that most of China’s eastern provinces should focus on improving scale and management efficiency, whereas most of its central and western provinces should concentrate on three factors: narrowing the regional technology gap, improving management efficiency, and optimizing the industrial scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of modern industrialization has caused heavy environmental pollution. Environmental protection is a basic national policy of China. In 2011, China began to implement the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Environmental Protection" (12th FYP_NEP). Using the survey data of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Shandong Province of China, this paper empirically explores the impact of 12th FYP_NEP on the energy utilization and operating efficiencies of SMEs. It is found that the environmental policy "12th FYP_NEP" has a significant incentive effect on both efficiency performance of Chinese SMEs, and has a greater positive impact on operating efficiency. Our heterogeneity analysis showed the following results. The incentive effect is different in different industries and enterprises of different sizes. The policy "12th FYP_NEP" has a greater positive impact on the energy utilization efficiency of SMEs in China's first and second tier cities, but it has no significant impact on their operation efficiency. This shows that SMEs in first and second tier cities are more effective in coping with the national environmental policy reform strategy. It can be seen that the promulgation of China's environmental policies can significantly improve the energy utilization awareness of these SMEs. The incentive effect of the policy on the two efficiency performances of SMEs in cities with "heavy air pollution" is greater, indicating that the implementation effect of "12th FYP_NEP" on SMEs in such cities is better. The enlightenments are as follows: the current situation of Chinese SMEs is that the energy utilization efficiency is low, while the operating efficiency is high. Most enterprises attach great importance to their own operating profits and economic development, and the awareness of energy utilization needs to be greatly strengthened. "12th FYP_NEP" has obvious positive effect on the energy utilization and operating efficiencies of SMEs, but there are slight differences among different types of enterprises. It is suggested that governments can refine their own environmental regulation standards and implement different environmental regulations for different types of enterprises, so as to enhance the performance of domestic enterprises most effectively. • This paper used the China survey data on SMEs over the period 2010–2013. • It is found that the Chinese "12th FYP_NEP" has a significant incentive effect on efficiency performance of Chinese SMEs. • The incentive effect is different in different industries and enterprises of different sizes. • The policy makes for improving the energy efficiency of SMEs in first and second-tier cities and heavy-polluted cities. • Chinese SMEs should attach great importance to energy utilization rather than operating profits only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China has started to change its growth strategy to a more sustainable model in response to the limits-to-growth dilemma. Specifically, the national policy advocates to promote the use of green-manufacturing technologies through demonstration projects, and to incentivize Chinese manufacturers to adopt these green-technologies that are also encouraged by local governments. These green technologies can increase the economic gains of manufacturers by reducing costs on energy consumption and shift away from selling low-margin products. However, the local authorities often encounter obstacles when implementing policies for promoting these technologies among manufacturing firms. This paper explores the factors that affect the decision-making of user firms throughout the policy implementation process. Based on the econometric analysis of the survey for China's electric motors upgrading project in Guangdong Province, this study shows that three key factors are helpful in the local government's effort to implement the national project, i.e. manufacturers' awareness, the understanding of the energy-efficiency technology, and the long-term macroeconomic benefits. In addition, encouraging the participation of financial institutions is especially useful for local governments to convince small-and-medium sized firms. These findings are beneficial for local implementation of green-manufacturing technology diffusion policies in China and have worldwide policy implication as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, China's economy and energy structure are deeply adjusting to the direction of low-carbonization and non-carbonization with unprecedented efforts. This paper considered carbon emissions and energy endowments, adopted SBM-Undesirable model and spatial Durbin model to calculate the energy efficiency of 30 provinces and municipalities in China from 2015 to 2019 and analyze the direct effect, indirect effect and total effect on energy efficiency of 7 variables. Empirical results show that: Energy efficiency has spatial positive correlation and agglomeration characteristics; The main influencing factor of China's energy efficiency is energy consumption structure; Regions with strong energy endowment bear the environmental pollution cost of energy consumption areas in China; Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) exists in China, but different provinces and municipalities are distributed in disparate stages; Research and development (R&D) investment only affects local energy efficiency, and has no spillover effect on surrounding areas in China; Foreign direct investment (FDI) has negative impacts on China's energy efficiency, and there is a phenomenon of pollution paradise. The valuable conclusions obtained in this study deepens the insights about the influencing factors of China's energy efficiency under the constraints of carbon emission and energy endowment. Energy efficiency has spatial positive correlation and agglomeration characteristics; The main influencing factor of China's energy efficiency is energy consumption structure; Regions with strong energy endowment bear the environmental pollution cost of energy consumption areas in China; Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) exists in China, but different provinces and municipalities are distributed in disparate stages; Research and development (R&D) investment only affects local energy efficiency, and has no spillover effect on surrounding areas in China; Foreign direct investment (FDI) has negative impacts on China's energy efficiency, and there is a phenomenon of pollution paradise. [Display omitted] • Energy efficiency has spatial positive correlation and agglomeration characteristics. • Energy consumption structure mainly affects energy efficiency. • Environment Kuznets Curve exists in China. • "Pollution paradise hypothesis" exists in foreign direct investment. • Environmental pollution is transferred to surrounding provinces through resource trades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, PM 2.5 is still one of the most serious air pollution issues in China. By empirically testing the actual inhibitory effect of China's total factor energy efficiency progress on PM 2.5 , this paper can provide a new evaluation index for energy conservation in China and help Chinese cities understand the beneficial environmental effect of total factor productivity (TFP) progress under the constraint of energy consumption to point out an effective path of energy conservation and emission reduction that is highly in line with China's current high-quality development strategy. Based on the panel data of 105 key environmental protection cities in China, this paper evaluates total factor energy efficiency with range directional model (RDM) and global Malmquist (GM) productivity index based on data envelopment analysis (DEA); it then uses spatial econometric models to test the impact of energy efficiency progress on PM 2.5 concentration. The efficiency evaluation results show that the total factor energy efficiency of 105 key environmental protection cities has increased by an average of 35.9% from 2004 to 2015, with an average annual progress rate of 2.2%. Compared with Eastern and Central China, the progress of energy efficiency in the western region during 2004–2015 is relatively lagged. The average energy efficiency progress rate of higher administrative hierarchy cities and super cities with more than 10 million permanent residents is much higher than that of other cities. The results of GM index decomposition show that technological progress is the main driving force of energy efficiency progress. The spatial econometric analysis results show that there is a significant positive spatial autocorrelation in the concentration of PM 2.5 in sample cities, and the energy efficiency progress can significantly inhibit the PM 2.5 pollution in local and adjacent cities. The influence of each explanatory variable on PM 2.5 concentration is mainly composed of the spatial spillover effect. Image 1 • DEA-based RDM and Global Malmquist index are used to evaluate energy efficiency. • The energy efficiency of 105 cities has increased by an average of 35.9% in 12 years. • Technological progress is the main driving force of energy efficiency progress. • Energy efficiency progress can significantly reduce PM2.5 concentration. • The impact of each factor on PM2.5 is mainly composed of spatial spillover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector is an important industry in China's economic development and energy consumption, and research on its energy efficiency has attracted increasing attention from researchers. Currently, the traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model ignores the competition among regions, resulting in inaccurate estimation of efficiency. This paper employed traditional DEA, cross-efficiency DEA and game cross-efficiency DEA approaches to measure the energy efficiency of the construction industry in 30 of China's provinces from 2005 to 2016. The temporal trend and spatial distribution characteristics of energy efficiency determined through the game cross-efficiency method were then depicted by clustering analysis. Finally, the spatial heterogeneity of energy efficiency was analysed in detail. The results indicated that the efficiency calculated using the game cross-efficiency DEA model considering the competitive relationship was lower than the traditionally calculated efficiency and higher than the efficiency calculated using cross-efficiency DEA. Moreover, during the period of study, the energy efficiency showed a holistic growth trend with volatility. Clustering analysis demonstrated that the energy efficiency of eastern China was significantly higher than that of central and western China. Additionally, the spatial gaps in China's construction industry narrowed, while the spatial agglomerations strengthened. This paper also found a significant positive agglomeration in the energy efficiency of the construction sector in neighbouring provinces of China in the space dimension. In conclusion, province-specific policies based upon temporal and spatial heterogeneity were proposed to improve the energy efficiency of the construction industry in China. • Game cross-efficiency is first used in construction sector. • Provincial energy efficiencies of construction sector are examined in 2005–2016. • Spatial distribution characteristics of energy efficiency are depicted. • Energy efficiency is assessed in four agglomeration areas. • Positive spatial agglomeration exists in energy efficiency of construction sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient utilization and clean conversion of coal have become one of the urgent tasks in the current situation of energy utilization in China. Aiming to promote the energy efficiency and sustainability, coal to gas is playing a more and more important role in the national environmental and climate change. However, the presence of harmful H 2 S in the syngas not only corrodes the equipment and poisons the catalyst, but also pollutes the environment seriously after it is discharged to the atmosphere, so it must be removed. The preparation of desulfurization materials with high sulfur capacity, high efficiency, good regenerability and stable performance has always been the research hotspot in this field. Based on previous works, first, newly developing desulfurization sorbents prepared with excellent performance and novel methods and materials emerging in recent years have been reviewed and highlighted in the present paper. Second, the preparation method, performance indicators and merits of various single metal oxides (Fe 2 O 3 , ZnO, Mn 2 O 3 , CuO, CaO) and composite metal oxides (Fe–Zn–O, Mo–Fe–Mn–O, Mn–Ca, etc.) have been discussed and compared. More important, the further perspectives, such as techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of the relating field were also proposed based on the existing understandings, which will make sense for the promotion of energy efficiency and sustainability, pollution reduction and resource recovery. The in depth development status and the state of the art of clean coal utilization sorbents for hydrogen sulfide clean-up reviewed in the present paper aiming to offer theoretical basis and experience to the accurate design and performance improvement of cost-effective desulfurization sorbent. • Desulfurization sorbents for clean coal use and toxic reduction were reviewed. • Sorbent preparations match the feature of desulfurization should deserve attention. • Comprehensive techno- and socio-economic analyses upon sorbents are critical. • Regenerable sorbents regarding circular economy and waste reduction are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this article we proposed an improved Super-SBM model dealing with undesirable outputs under the weak disposability assumption of undesirable outputs. Energy efficiencies of various industrial sectors in China from 2001 to 2010 are measured based on this model, and the influencing factors for energy efficiency are explored by Tobit regression model. Empirical results show that, during “The Eleventh Five-year Plan”, energy efficiency of each industrial sector and category has been improved to various extents, but overall efficiency variations among industries have not taken on a convergence trend. Light industry has achieved the highest energy efficiency, followed by heavy industry; while the energy efficiency of the latter has a faster growth rate compared with that of light industry; the gap between these two industries' energy efficiency has been reduced. Energy efficiency variation presents an obvious feature of industrial economy transformation. The analysis of influencing factors show that enterprise scale, industry concentration, industrial property rights structure, and government regulation all affect energy efficiency apparently, but their effects vary across industries. Lastly, based on research results, this paper gives some policy recommendations on improving energy efficiency of the industrial sectors in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The super efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) with undesirable outputs was used in this paper to determine the energy efficiency of the service industry in various provinces from 2007 to 2017. The different characteristics of the energy efficiency of service industry in different provinces were obtained from the perspective of heterogeneous resource endowment. The findings show that: ⅰ) China's service industry's overall energy efficiency fluctuates in a 'W' shape. Provinces with varying resource endowments demonstrated significant variation in energy efficiency. Provinces with a high concentration of technology and energy had the highest and lowest levels, respectively, indicating an upward and downward trend. ⅱ) Energy efficiency improvements in China's service sector were primarily a result of technological advancements. Technological advancement and technical efficiency were the primary causes in technology- and labor-intensive provinces, respectively, whereas the combined effect of both factors was the primary cause in energy-intensive provinces. ⅲ) Foreign investment and environmental regulation may both contribute to the improvement of energy efficiency in the service industry, while energy structure and government intervention may work against it. Additionally, a U-shaped relationship was observed between the service industry's development level and energy efficiency. As a result, policymakers should develop targeted promotion strategies based on the resource endowment and development stage of the service industry in various provinces. • Undesirable super efficiency SBM model and Malmquist–Luenberger index are used. • China's service industry's overall energy efficiency fluctuates in a 'W' shape. • Static and dynamic analysis of the service industry's energy efficiency is provided. • The service industry's energy efficiency in provinces with different resource endowment is heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China has become the primary energy consumer in the world, consuming 48.2% of the world''s coal in 2010. Of this percentage, 48.0% of China''s coal consumption is used by the power generation industry, which causes unavoidable environmental problems in the country. This paper presents complete life cycle modeling and a comparative assessment of current clean coal power generation technologies in China, including a state-of-the-art commercial ultra super-critical system. In this study, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is adopted for energy and environment analysis, followed by a brief economic discussion. Incorporating up-to-date data and country-specific situations, the present work covers all up-stream stages of the electricity life cycle before final consumption: coal mining, coal transportation, and coal power generation. The modeling results show that ultra super-critical systems (USC) have the highest life cycle energy efficiency due to the highest net generating efficiency and the lowest plant auxiliary power consumption among the cases examined. The global warming potential (GWP) scores show reverse dependencies of net generating efficiency. An integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) was demonstrated to be the cleanest technology and has the lowest scores in most of the life cycle impact categories, in particular in acidification potential (AP) and photo-oxidant formation potential (POCP). IGCC ranks as the highest in capital costs due to its complexity, while USC and super-critical systems are among the lowest in capital cost because of their commercialization in China. Evaluation of coal power generation combined with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) shows that the CCS technologies can reduce the total life cycle CO2 emission from coal power plants substantially, although higher levels of CO2 are generated from the extra energy consumption by the CCS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Improving energy efficiency is important to ensure economic growth while conserving energy and reducing emissions. Based on the total factor energy efficiency of China's textile industry, this paper constructs a simultaneous equation model that includes the Tobit model, and empirically analyzes whether foreign trade affects energy efficiency in the textile industry as well as the mechanism of any such influence. The empirical results demonstrate positive feedback between foreign trade and energy efficiency in the textile industry, with imports impacting energy efficiency more than do exports. The foreign trade of textile industry is divided into import trade and export trade, which have different impacts on energy efficiency. Simultaneously, the results also confirm that R&D input, ownership structure and energy price significantly impact the energy efficiency of China's textile industry. • The foreign trade of textile industry significantly affects its energy efficiency. • The import trade impacts energy efficiency more than does the export trade. • Ownership structure significantly impact energy efficiency of textile industry. • Energy efficiency of textile industry has significant positive effect on foreign trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy-saving technologies in buildings have received great attention from energy efficiency researchers in the construction sector. Traditional research tends to focus on the energy used during building operation and in construction materials production, but it usually neglects the energy consumed in the building construction process. Very few studies have explored the impacts of technological progress on energy efficiency in the construction industry. This paper presents a model of the building construction process based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The model estimates the effects of technological progress on energy efficiency with the objective to examine the role that technological progress plays in energy savings in China's construction industry. The modeling results indicated that technological progress improved energy efficiency by an average of 7.1% per year from 1997 to 2014. Furthermore, three main technological progress factors (the efficiency of machinery and equipment, the proportion change of the energy structure, and research and development investment) were selected to analyze their effects on energy efficiency improvement. These positive effects were verified, and results show the effects of first two factors are significant. Finally, recommendations for promoting energy efficiency in the construction industry are proposed. • Explored energy efficiency of the building production process through analysis of national statistical data. • Technological progress was found to increase energy efficiency by an annual average of 7.1%. • Analyzed the roles of technological progress factors in improving energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]