Study on the decoupling relationship between CO2 emissions and economic development based on two-dimensional decoupling theory: A case between China and the United States

Abstract The current decoupling theory cannot distinguish the decoupling state of a region with different economic development level. To overcome this problem, this paper first studies the internal relationship between decoupling theory and EKC hypothesis. Furthermore, we establish a two-dimensional decoupling theory of economic development and CO2 emissions. Finally, taking China and US as a case, this theory is used to explore the decoupling relationship between economic development and CO2 emissions over the period 1965–2016. If the EKC curve satisfies the inverted U type characteristic, the critical point between strong decoupling and weak decoupling can be approximately obtained at the extreme point of EKC curve. Based on the Tapio decoupling theory and extreme point of EKC curve, the two-dimensional decoupling model with 16 kinds of decoupling sates is established. For China and the United States, the EKC curve of carbon emissions and per capita GDP satisfies the inverted U type characteristic. The threshold value of per capita GDP for China and the United States are $7999.5 and $50980.52, respectively. At present, China's economy is experiencing a low level of economic development. The development of the United States in 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 presented strong decoupling with high level of economic development.

[1]  A. Jalil,et al.  Environment Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions: A cointegration analysis for China , 2009 .

[2]  Soumyananda Dinda.  Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey , 2004 .

[3]  G. Grossman,et al.  Economic Growth and the Environment , 1994 .

[4]  Yue‐Jun Zhang,et al.  The linkage of CO2 emissions for China, EU, and USA: evidence from the regional and sectoral analyses , 2018, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[5]  Min Zhou,et al.  Decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from electricity generation in China , 2013 .

[6]  P. Tapio.  Towards the theory of decoupling : Degrees of decoupling in the EU and the case of road traffic in Finland between 1970 and 2001 , 2022 .

[7]  Chien‐Chiang Lee,et al.  Does One Size Fit All? A Reexamination of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Using the Dynamic Panel Data Approach , 2009 .

[8]  Shilpi Gupta.  Decoupling: a step toward sustainable development with reference to OECD countries , 2015 .

[9]  Bo Shen,et al.  Measuring the Energy Saving and CO2 Emissions Reduction Potential Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative , 2018, Computational Economics.

[10]  R. Kaufmann,et al.  Is there a turning point in the relationship between income and energy use and/or carbon emissions? , 2006 .

[11]  Yue-Jun Zhang,et al.  The decomposition of energy-related carbon emission and its decoupling with economic growth in China , 2015 .

[12]  Bin Su,et al.  Decomposing the decoupling indicator between the economic growth and energy consumption in China , 2015 .

[13]  Danae Diakoulaki,et al.  Decomposition analysis for assessing the progress in decoupling industrial growth from CO2 emissions in the EU manufacturing sector , 2007 .

[14]  Massimiliano Mazzanti,et al.  Emissions Trends and Labour Productivity Dynamics Sector Analyses of De-Coupling/Recoupling on a 1990-2005 Namea , 2009 .

[15]  Shinji Kaneko,et al.  Decomposing the decoupling of CO2 emissions and economic growth in Brazil , 2011 .

[16]  Duane Chapman,et al.  Economic growth, trade and energy: implications for the environmental Kuznets curve , 1998 .

[17]  Yue‐Jun Zhang,et al.  The linkages of sectoral carbon dioxide emission caused by household consumption in China: evidence from the hypothetical extraction method , 2018 .

[18]  Jie Guo,et al.  The key sectors for energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction in China: Evidence from the input-output method , 2018 .

[19]  Ilhan Ozturk,et al.  On the relationship between energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth in Europe , 2010 .

[20]  B. W. Ang,et al.  Decomposition analysis for policymaking in energy:: which is the preferred method? , 2004 .

[21]  Mikael Skou Andersen,et al.  Decoupling of industrial energy consumption and CO2-emissions in energy-intensive industries in Scandinavia , 2007 .

[22]  Ming Zhang,et al.  Study on the changes of the decoupling indicator between energy-related CO2 emission and GDP in China , 2017 .

[23]  Shenggang Ren,et al.  Effects of decoupling of carbon dioxide emission by Chinese nonferrous metals industry , 2012 .

[24]  Yan Song,et al.  Using a new decoupling indicator (ZM decoupling indicator) to study the relationship between the economic growth and energy consumption in China , 2017, Natural Hazards.

[25]  Á. Pardo,et al.  Decoupling factors on the energy–output linkage: The Spanish case , 2007 .

[26]  M. Lindmark.  An EKC-pattern in historical perspective: carbon dioxide emissions, technology, fuel prices and growth in Sweden 1870-1997 , 2002 .

[27]  V. Jaunky.  The CO2 emissions-income nexus: Evidence from rich countries , 2011 .