A Nonparametric Analysis of Energy Use Efficiency in Western China

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has recently been widely applied to analyze energy use efficiency. In previous studies, little information has been found in measuring energy use efficiency considering undesirable outputs. This paper conducts an energy use efficiency analysis in western China by DEA approach. Using real data of nine regions in western China, an empirical study is employed to investigate the energy use efficiency. The results indicate that Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi have the best resource efficiency and Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Xinjiang have the higher environmental efficiency. Further, resource efficiency presents a strong linear relationship with environmental efficiency. In addition, the results in western China indicate that energy use efficiency shows an increasing trend over time and energy use efficiency is correlated with aggregated energy intensity. In the end, limitations of this study are also discussed and the areas that require further study are presented.