Decoupling analysis of electricity consumption from economic growth in China

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to apply the decoupling index combined with the LMDI method to analyze the contribution of the factors which influence electricity consumption in China over the period 1991-2009. The main results are as follows: (1) Electricity consumption has been rising year by year with economic growth. Electricity consumption came to 427.37 Mtce in 2009, which accounted for 19.56% of total energy consumption. (2) China’s electricity intensity has continuously decreased during the 1990s and early 2000s, the decreasing trend has reserved since 2003. (3) The economic activity effect is the most important contributor to increase electricity consumption in China, the sector electricity share effect is another important factor leading to the rapid growth of electricity and the energy intensity effect plays the dominant role in decreasing electricity consumption. (4) The period from 1999 to 2007 represents a re-coupling effect, while the other time interval shows weak decoupling effect.