Abstract
To explore the influence of natural gas price on the green efficiency of natural gas in China, this paper first assesses the levels of green efficiency of natural gas in 30 provinces. Then, we employ the panel data of 30 provinces from 2006 to 2017 to explore the nexus by employing the S-GMM method. We also investigate the regional heterogeneity, asymmetry, and mediating mechanism. The major conclusions are highlighted as follows: (1) the green efficiency of natural gas in China has increased remarkably and now shows significant differences among provinces; (2) the increase in the natural gas price can be positively related to the green efficiency of natural gas in China, a result that is robust in the robustness tests; (3) asymmetry and regional heterogeneity exist among the nexus between price and the green efficiency of natural gas, specifically, regions with lower economic development and lower green efficiency equip a higher coefficient of price; and (4) the gas price can promote the green efficiency of gas indirectly through the consumption effect and green technology effect. Several policy implications are presented in this study to improve the green efficiency of natural gas and achieve sustainable growth in China.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- A-B:
-
Arellano-Bond
- GDP:
-
Gross domestic product
- CD:
-
Cross-sectional dependence
- HDD:
-
Heating degree days
- CMA:
-
China Meteorological Administration
- NDRC:
-
National Development and Reform Commission
- CNIPA:
-
China National Intellectual Property Administration
- SC:
-
State Council
- CRS:
-
Constant return to scale
- SFA:
-
Stochastic Frontier Analysis
- CSY:
-
China Statistical Yearbook
- S-GMM:
-
System generalized method of moments
- DEA:
-
Data Envelopment Analysis
- VRS:
-
Variable returns to scale
- D-GMM:
-
First-difference generalized method of moments
- WEC:
-
World Energy Council
- FGLS:
-
Feasible generalized least squares
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful reviews and comments from the editors and anonymous reviewers, which improved this manuscript considerably. Certainly, all remaining errors are our own.
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The study is supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20VGQ003).
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Li, J., Dong, X. & Dong, K. Green efficiency of natural gas and driving factors analysis: the role of the natural gas price in China. Energy Efficiency 15, 24 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-022-10033-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-022-10033-0