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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1502860
This article is part of the Research Topic Low-carbon transition of energy infrastructures View all 11 articles

Does Energy-consuming right trading policy achieve a low-carbon Transition of the energy structure? A quasi-natural experiment from China

Provisionally accepted
Ye Chen Ye Chen 1*Bin Zhong Bin Zhong 2*Bingnan Guo Bingnan Guo 3*
  • 1 Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Gannan University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, China
  • 3 Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The implementation of energy-consuming right trading (ECRT) policy in 2017 is a major measure to promote the construction of ecological civilization and green development, which also aligns with the global trend towards sustainable energy management and carbon emission reduction. Based on energy consumption data in China from 2010-2021, this paper utilizes the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method to assess the extent and process of the impact of energy-consuming right trading policy on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure. The transmission mechanism of industrial structure upgrading and the new-quality productive forces in the impact process was discussed, and the regulatory role of environmental regulations was tested. The findings indicate: (1) ECRT has a strong driving effect on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure. (2) ECRT can promote low-carbon transition of the energy structure through the dual channel of promoting industrial structure upgrading and new-quality productive forces. (3) The influence of ECRT on the low-carbon transition of the energy structure is different in different regions, and the higher degree of industrial agglomeration and renewable energy-rich regions are more significantly promoted by new quality productivity. (4) Environmental regulation has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between ECRT and low-carbon transition of the energy structure. (5) Furthermore, the exploratory analysis reveals that the positive impacts of ECRT policies on the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure translates into higher green total factor productivity and lower environmental pollution, which promotes the sustainable development of the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure. This paper responds to the basic question of whether energy use rights policies can promote the low-carbon Transition of the energy structure, and provides empirical evidence and policy reference not only for the development of China's environmental policy and the direction of energy consumption but also for the international community's efforts in sustainable energy and environmental governance.

    Keywords: low-carbon transition of the energy structure, ECRT, Industrial structure, industrial agglomeration, environmental regulation, new-quality productive forces

    Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 19 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhong and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ye Chen, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
    Bin Zhong, Gannan University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, China
    Bingnan Guo, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

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