Analysis on the Provincial Energy Efficiency and the Potential of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction in China

Fossil energy is an essential driving force to economic growth, meanwhile, they also lead to the excess emission of carbon dioxide, which is the main cause of global warming. In this paper, we use SBM model to calculate each province's core of total factor energy efficiency in 2012. Then, we estimate their potentials of energy saving and emission reduction, respectively. The results indicate that only Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong are at the efficiency frontier. There are 21 provinces whose scores are lower than the average score of 0.4875 and the lowest score is just 0.2923. With reference to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, the other provinces all have a considerable potential of energy saving from 22.97% to 79.4% and emission reduction from 42.39% to even 90.77%. Generally, the energy efficiency is negatively correlated with the potential of energy saving and emission reduction.