Spatial Variation and Distribution of Urban Energy Consumptions from Cities in China

Lixiao Zhang, Zhifeng Yang, Jing Liang and Yanpeng Cai
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Lixiao Zhang: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Zhifeng Yang: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Jing Liang: Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Yanpeng Cai: Faculty of Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 1Z1, Canada

Energies, 2010, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: With support of GIS tools and Theil index, the spatial variance of urban energy consumption in China was discussed in this paper through the parallel comparison and quantitative analysis of the 30 provincial capital cities of mainland China in 2005, in terms of scale, efficiency and structure. The indicators associated with urban energy consumption show large spatial variance across regions, possibly due to diversities of geographic features, economic development levels and local energy source availability in China. In absolute terms, cities with the highest total energy consumption are mostly distributed in economic-developed regions as Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Area, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta of China, however, the per capita urban energy use is significantly higher in the Mid-and-Western regions. With regard to the energy mix, coal still plays the dominant role and cities in Mid-and-Western regions rely more on coal. In contrast, high quality energy carrier as electricity and oils are more used in southeast coastal zone and northern developed areas. The energy intensive cities are mainly located in the northwest, while the cities with higher efficiency are in southeast areas. The large spatial variance of urban energy consumption was also verified by the Theil indices. Considering the Chinese economy-zones of East, Middle and West, the within-group inequalities are the main factor contributing to overall difference, e.g., the Theil index for per capita energy consumption of within-group is 0.18, much higher than that of between group (0.07), and the same applies to other indicators. In light of the spatial variance of urban energy consumptions in China, therefore, regionalized and type-based management of urban energy systems is badly needed to effectively address the ongoing energy strategies and targets.

Keywords: urban energy system; spatial variance; Theil index; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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