Assessing changes and driving factors of energy consumption in China over 2000-2014: a perspective of final demand

As the economy enters the new normal in China, more and more intellectuals are concerned about the energy consumption in the economic green transformation and development process; this article computes the energy consumption embodied in various final demand types by the utilization of the environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) model during 2000-2014. Then, the structural decomposition analysis is adopted for exploring energy consumption changes' driving factors considering various final demand categories. Furthermore, the decoupling between economic growth and energy consumption embodied in various final demand categories is revealed by the application of the Tapio model in China. The results indicate as below: (1) the energy consumption embodied in various final demand categories increased significantly during the study period; (2) the gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) was most conducive to the growth of energy consumption, while the construction department emerged as the greatest energy user in GFCF; (3) coal and oil were two main energy sources consumed regardless of any final demand categories; (4) in the three drivers, the scale effect had a primary contribution to increasing energy consumption. The intensity effect made a crucial contribution to mitigating energy consumption. The structural effect had a mild contribution to the energy consumption changes; (5) the five final demand categories were roughly characterized by the weak decoupling over the period 2000-2014. GFCF determined the decoupling index between economy growth and energy consumption largely. Finally, this article put forward implied policies concerning the reduction of energy utilization in China.