Can expanding natural gas infrastructure mitigate CO2 emissions? Analysis of heterogeneous and mediation effects for China
Can expanding natural gas infrastructure mitigate CO2 emissions? Analysis of heterogeneous and mediation effects for China
To verify whether the expansion of natural gas infrastructure can effectively mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China, this study first investigates the impact of natural gas infrastructure on China's CO2 emissions by employing a balanced panel dataset for 30 Chinese provinces covering 2004–2017. Fully considering the potential heterogeneity and asymmetry, the two-step panel quantile regression approach is utilized. Also, to test the mediation impact mechanism between natural gas infrastructure and CO2 emissions, this study then analyzes the three major mediation effects of natural gas infrastructure on China's CO2 emissions (i.e., scale effect, technique effect, and structure effect). The empirical results indicate that expansion of the natural gas infrastructure can effectively mitigate China's CO2 emissions; however, this impact is significantly heterogeneous and asymmetric across quantiles. Furthermore, through analyzing the mediation impact mechanism, the natural gas infrastructure can indirectly affect CO2 emissions in China through the scale effect (i.e., gas population and economic effects) and structure effect (i.e., energy structure effect). Conversely, the technique effect (i.e., energy intensity effect) brought by natural gas infrastructure on CO2 emissions in China has not been significant so far. Finally, policy implications are highlighted for the Chinese government with respect to reducing CO2 emissions and promoting growth in the natural gas infrastructure.
CO emissions, Heterogeneity and asymmetry, Mediation impact mechanism, Natural gas infrastructure, Two-step panel quantile regression
Dong, Kangyin
e17c6934-2e95-4a19-be1b-be697ca4e165
Dong, Xiucheng
d235da1b-291c-4efe-ba32-521ab4e4d318
Ren, Xiaohang
970abdf4-ff20-4244-9952-f9ee910736ee
August 2020
Dong, Kangyin
e17c6934-2e95-4a19-be1b-be697ca4e165
Dong, Xiucheng
d235da1b-291c-4efe-ba32-521ab4e4d318
Ren, Xiaohang
970abdf4-ff20-4244-9952-f9ee910736ee
Dong, Kangyin, Dong, Xiucheng and Ren, Xiaohang
(2020)
Can expanding natural gas infrastructure mitigate CO2 emissions? Analysis of heterogeneous and mediation effects for China.
Energy Economics, 90, [104830].
(doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104830).
Abstract
To verify whether the expansion of natural gas infrastructure can effectively mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China, this study first investigates the impact of natural gas infrastructure on China's CO2 emissions by employing a balanced panel dataset for 30 Chinese provinces covering 2004–2017. Fully considering the potential heterogeneity and asymmetry, the two-step panel quantile regression approach is utilized. Also, to test the mediation impact mechanism between natural gas infrastructure and CO2 emissions, this study then analyzes the three major mediation effects of natural gas infrastructure on China's CO2 emissions (i.e., scale effect, technique effect, and structure effect). The empirical results indicate that expansion of the natural gas infrastructure can effectively mitigate China's CO2 emissions; however, this impact is significantly heterogeneous and asymmetric across quantiles. Furthermore, through analyzing the mediation impact mechanism, the natural gas infrastructure can indirectly affect CO2 emissions in China through the scale effect (i.e., gas population and economic effects) and structure effect (i.e., energy structure effect). Conversely, the technique effect (i.e., energy intensity effect) brought by natural gas infrastructure on CO2 emissions in China has not been significant so far. Finally, policy implications are highlighted for the Chinese government with respect to reducing CO2 emissions and promoting growth in the natural gas infrastructure.
Text
1-s2.0-S0140988320301705-main
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 10 June 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 June 2020
Published date: August 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The article is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in UIBE (Grant No. 19QD03 ), the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 18VDL017 ), and the Innovation Methods Special Foundation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2018IMO40100 ). We also gratefully acknowledge the helpful reviews and comments from the editor and anonymous reviewers. Certainly, all remaining errors are our own.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:
CO emissions, Heterogeneity and asymmetry, Mediation impact mechanism, Natural gas infrastructure, Two-step panel quantile regression
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 442082
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/442082
ISSN: 0140-9883
PURE UUID: d463622b-8b87-487a-be25-cba0ac4eb28b
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Date deposited: 07 Jul 2020 16:48
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:42
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Contributors
Author:
Kangyin Dong
Author:
Xiucheng Dong
Author:
Xiaohang Ren
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