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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1397753

Has digital development achieved a synergistic effect of reducing energy intensity and improving carbon emission performance? Evidence from China

Provisionally accepted
Saige Wang Saige Wang 1Honglin Zhong Honglin Zhong 2Gang Yang Gang Yang 3Anhua Zhou Anhua Zhou 3*
  • 1 Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 3 Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha Shi, Hunan Province, China

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

    The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has significantly escalated energy consumption and carbon emissions. The imperative to achieve synergies in energy conservation and carbon reduction has never been more pressing. Digital development presents promising avenues for addressing these challenges, making it crucial to investigate its impact on energy intensity (EI) and carbon emission performance (CEP). This study integrates the super efficiency epsilon-based measure (SE-EBM), mediation effect, and threshold effect models to assess the influence of digital development on EI and CEP using data from 267 cities across China from 2011 to 2019. Our findings demonstrate a notable 23.1% reduction in EI and an 18.5% improvement in CEP attributable to digital development. Moreover, our analysis underscores the pivotal role of technological innovation as a transformative conduit. Importantly, we identify significant threshold effects linked to economic development stages. This study not only enriches our understanding of pathways to energy conservation and carbon reduction but also provides compelling evidence supporting policies aimed at fostering and accelerating digital development initiatives.

    Keywords: digital development, Super efficiency epsilon-based measure model, energy intensity, Carbon emission performance, Mediation effect model, carbon neutrality

    Received: 08 Mar 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Zhong, Yang and Zhou. 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: Anhua Zhou, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha Shi, 410013, Hunan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.