An Estimation and Factor Decomposition Analysis of Energy-related Carbon Emissions in Beijing

We calculated energy-related carbon emissions from Beijing's production and household sectors in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2009 based on the default carbon-emission coefficients provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Taking 1995-2000, 2000-2005, and 2005-2009 as the study periods, we decomposed the effects of changes in carbon emissions resulting from 8 causal factors using the method of the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI). These causal factors include: economic activity and population size which reflect the effect of activity change; energy intensity and energy consumption per capita which reflect the effect of intensity change; economic structure, urban and rural population distribution structure, and energy mix of production and household sectors which reflect the effect of structural change. Our results can reflect the reason of carbon emissions changes and provide a solid basis for policy makers to propose emission reduction measures and approaches. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University.