Decoupling Elasticity and Driving Factors of Energy Consumption and Economic Development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Decoupling of energy consumption and economic development is a key factor in achieving sustainable regional development. The decoupling relationship between energy consumption and economic development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region is still unclear. This paper uses the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition method and Tapio elastic index model to analyze the decoupling degree and driving factors of energy consumption and economic development, and evaluates the decoupling effort level in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2006 to 2016. The results indicate that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region showed a weak decoupling as a whole, and that only Tibet experienced expanding negative decoupling in 2006-2007 and an expansion link in 2007-2008. Economic scale is a primary factor that hinders the decoupling of energy consumption, followed by investment intensity and industrial energy structure. The cumulative promotion effect of research and development (R&D) efficiency and intensity and the inhibition effect of investment intensity cancel each other out. With the exception of Tibet and Xinjiang, all provinces in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau have made decoupling efforts. Decoupling efforts made by R&D efficiency contributed the most, followed by energy intensity and R&D intensity. This paper provides policy recommendations for the decoupling of energy consumption experience for underdeveloped regions.