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An empirical study on energy utilization efficiency, economic development, and sustainable management

  • Sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems
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Abstract

Based on the premise of sustainable development of the environment, how to achieve the balance of energy utilization, economic development, and sustainable management of the environment is becoming increasingly important in the process of stable economic development. This paper analyzes the concept of environmental Kuznets curve, taking 35 European countries as the research objects, first discusses the trend of energy utilization efficiency from 1990 to 2013, and then analyzes the relationship between energy efficiency and economic development. Empirical results show that labor has a significant negative impact on energy efficiency and the increase in labor input will reduce energy efficiency. If the added value of national manufacturing accounts for a higher percentage in GDP, it will have a negative impact on the effectiveness of energy utilization. In addition, when the national price level is high, price fluctuation will increase the price of energy utilization, or the cost of energy input in economic activities, which will further reduce the country’s energy efficiency performance. Lastly, the empirical study also found that energy efficiency and economic development showed a quadratic U-shaped relationship, indicating that the long-term energy efficiency of the country will first decline and then rise during economic activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Economics & Management, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

    Xin-Xin Pan

  2. International Business School, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou, China

    Mei-Lan Chen

  3. Department of Accounting, Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou, China

    Li-Meng Ying & Fang-Fang Zhang

Authors
  1. Xin-Xin Pan
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  2. Mei-Lan Chen
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  3. Li-Meng Ying
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  4. Fang-Fang Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fang-Fang Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Nicholas Apergis

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Pan, XX., Chen, ML., Ying, LM. et al. An empirical study on energy utilization efficiency, economic development, and sustainable management. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 12874–12881 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04787-x

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