Collaborative Allocation of Energy Consumption, Air Pollutants and CO2 Emissions in China

Energy consumption is an important source of the emissions of CO2 and air pollutants such as SO2 and NOX. Reducing energy consumption can realize the simultaneous reduction of air pollutants and CO2 emissions to a certain extent. This study examines the collaborative allocation of energy consumption and the emissions of SO2, NOX and CO2 in China. In contrast to previous studies, this paper proposes an improved centralized DEA model that takes into account the correlation between energy consumption and air environmental emissions, the economic development demand and the energy resource endowment of different provinces. The initial allocation scheme is obtained based on the principle of equity. Then, the initial allocation results are brought into the improved centralized DEA model to maximize the expected output. The empirical analysis of projected data for 2025 shows that the looser the restrictions of energy consumption, the greater the optimal economic output. When the energy consumption of each province is allowed to fluctuate within the range of 85% to 115% of the initial quota, the total GDP is the largest and 20.62% higher than the initial GDP. The optimal allocation scheme is more equitable than the initial scheme and realizes absolute interpersonal equity and economic equity. Eighteen provinces bear the pressures of energy saving, emission reduction or GDP growth, with average pressure indexes of 11.46%, 16.85% and 40.62%, respectively. The pressures on the major regions involved in the "Belt and Road", Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Yangtze River Economic Belt national strategies will thus be reduced significantly; the maximum pressures on energy saving, emission reduction and GDP growth are 10.03%, 12.17% and 29.84%, respectively. China can take a series of measures to promote regional coordinated development and improve the realization of optimal allocation schemes, including establishing unified resource asset trading platforms, improving the methods of regional cooperation, building effective transportation and logistics transport networks to weaken the barriers among regions and implementing differentiated regional policies and regional interest coordination mechanisms.