Exploring the driving forces of energy-related CO2 emissions in China's construction industry by utilizing production-theoretical decomposition analysis.

Abstract The construction industry is one of the largest energy consumers and CO 2 emitters in China. This paper primarily aimed to explore the driving forces of energy-related CO 2 emissions (ECE) from the construction industry. Adopting a comprehensive decomposition approach, this study decomposes the changes in ECE into eight factors. The main results provide the following findings. (1) Industrial activity was the largest factor pushing the growth of CO 2 emissions, driving up CO 2 emissions in all years and contributing to a 174.65 Mt CO 2 emissions increase in total. (2) In contrast, advances in industrial output technology represented the dominant factor inhibiting CO 2 emissions, cumulatively reducing CO 2 emissions by 99 Mt. (3) The effects of potential energy intensity changes and industrial output technical efficiency fluctuated in different years but exerted positive effects on CO 2 emissions over the entire period. (4) Additionally, changes in spatial structure, energy-saving technology, and energy consumption structure as well as energy usage efficiency all contributed to emissions reductions to varying degrees. The CO 2 emissions of the construction industry increased in all provinces, while emissions changes and their factor effects varied distinctly across provinces. Highlights • Direct and indirect CO 2 emissions in China's construction industry are calculated. • Impacts of driving factors are quantified by combining the PDA and IDA methods. • Industrial activity is mainly responsible for CO 2 emissions increase. • Industrial output technology change is the dominant curbing factor. • Factor effects of China's construction industry vary distinctly across provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]