Factors Affecting the Intensity of Industrial Carbon Emissions: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Heterogeneous Subindustries

By dynamically calculating the intensity of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 36 Chinese two-digit industries, this article constructs linear and nonlinear generalized methods of moment estimation, respectively, to empirically analyze the relationships between the industrial CO2 emissions intensity(CEI) and industrial factors, including the structure of energy consumption and of ownership as well as the level of industry revenues. The results show that the CEI of Chinese industry and its subindustries show a downward trend. Furthermore, CEI can be significantly curbed by optimizing the energy consumption structure and promoting technological progress. Except for technology-intensive industries, CEI can be reduced by improving the proportion of privatization and tax abatement. Expanding the industrial scale can significantly reduce Chinese industrial CEI, especially in labor-intensive industries. Despite a non-linear relationship between several factors and industrial CEI, the subindustries exhibit great heterogeneity.