Dynamics of energy-related CO2 emissions in China during 1980 to 2002: The relative importance of energy supply-side and demand-side effects

Based on a newly developed model that integrates energy production, transformation and consumption processes, this paper compares the relative importance of some traditionally recognized factors operating on the energy demand side with a body of newly defined factors on the supply side, in terms of their contribution to trends in Chinaʹs CO2 emissions related to the total primary energy supply (C-TPES). Before 1996, changes in Chinaʹs C-TPES were mainly driven by changes on the energy demand side. Factors operating on the energy supply side played trivial roles. During the period 1996–2000, however, increasing demand-side effects declined dramatically and at the same time decreasing effects from supply side expanded significantly. Such changes resulted directly in a decline in the C-TPES. The decreasing effects from international trade as well as statistical imbalances between supply and demand reinforced the declining trend. The shrinkage of demand side effects mainly arose from the slowdown of economic growth and speed of decrease in energy intensity. The expansion of supply-side effects was principally attributed to the speed of decrease in gross unit consumption in transformation sectors, especially in electricity sector. Therefore, the acceleration of efficiency improvements in end-use and transformation sectors accounted for the decline in the C-TPES over the period 1996–2000.