Towards China's dual-carbon target: Energy efficiency analysis of cities in the Yellow River Basin based on a "geography and high-quality development" heterogeneity framework

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) serves as a critical energy hub in China. Enhancing energy efficiency in cities across the YRB is pivotal for achieving high-quality development and meeting carbon peaking and neutrality targets. This paper proposes a multidimensional technology heterogeneity assessment framework to refine the classification of production technologies. It leverages this framework to develop a data envelopment analysis model for evaluating green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) in 78 cities within the YRB from 2006 to 2022. The key findings are as follows: (1) Grouping outcomes from the multidimensional heterogeneity framework significantly differ from existing literature. (2) GTFEE shows notable spatiotemporal variations within the YRB, with a substantial overall increase since 2011. However, cities in the central YRB exhibit lower GTFEE performance. (3) Energy inefficiency in groups 1, 2, and 3 is attributed to developmental inefficiency, management inefficiency, and practical inefficiency, respectively. (4) Evaluation of energy-saving potential reveals an average annual potential of around 8 million tce per city during 2006-2022. The study concludes with strategies for enhancing GTFEE based on dynamic GTFEE decomposition outcomes, supporting policy design for achieving dual-carbon goals through improved energy efficiency in the YRB region.