How to Set the Proper CO 2 Reduction Targets for the Provincial Building Sector of China?

Qingwei Shi, Hong Ren, Weiguang Cai and Jingxin Gao
Additional contact information
Qingwei Shi: School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Hong Ren: School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Weiguang Cai: School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Jingxin Gao: School of Management Science and Real Estate, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-22

Abstract: The improvement of the energy and carbon emission efficiency of activities in the building sector is the key to China’s realization of the Paris Agreement. We can explore effective emission abatement approaches for the building sector by evaluating the carbon emissions and energy efficiency of construction activities, measuring the emission abatement potential of construction activities across the country and regions, and measuring the marginal abatement cost (MAC) of China and various regions. This study calculates the energy and carbon emissions performance of the building sector of 30 provinces and regions in China from 2005 to 2015, measures the dynamic changes in the energy-saving potential and carbon emission performance of the building sector, conducts relevant verification, and estimates the MAC of the building sector by using the slacks-based measure-directional distance function. The level of energy consumption per unit of the building sector of China has been decreasing yearly, but the energy structure has changed minimally (considering that clean energy is used). The total factor technical efficiency of the building sector of various provinces, cities, and regions is generally low, as verified in the evaluation of the energy-saving and emission abatement potential of the building sector of China. The energy saving and emission abatement of the building sector of China have great potential—that is, in approximately 50% of the total emissions of the building sector of China. In particular, Northeast and North China account for more than 50% of the total energy-saving and emission abatement potential. The study of the CO 2 emissions and MAC of the building sector indicates that the larger the CO 2 emissions are, the smaller MAC will be. The emission abatement efficiency is proportional to MAC. Based on this research, it can be more equitable and effective in formulating provincial emission reduction policy targets at the national level, and can maximize the contribution of the building sector of various provinces to the national carbon emission reduction.

Keywords: total factor efficiency; abatement potential and cost; slacks-based measure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10432/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10432/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10432-:d:461560

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().