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Inclusivity between internet development and energy conservation in Henan, China

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Abstract

The growth of the internet has a significant impact on the development of energy-saving technology, increased energy efficiency, and decreased power intensity. This study applies the spatial econometric model and the panel threshold model to examine the relationship between Internet development, economic growth, and power intensity in Henan Province using data from 18 cities in the province from 2001 to 2018. The findings indicate that the power intensity in Henan Province lowers as Internet usage rises and the industrial structure is optimized. Additionally, Henan Province's urban power density exhibits spatial positive correlation and features of regional aggregation. Finally, Henan Province has experienced a substantial threshold effect as a result of Internet development. The level of Internet development has a non-linear impact on power intensity at various levels of population, per capita GDP, urbanization rate, technological development, and foreign direct investment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company cooperation program (202022141016A), and the Special Fund for Joint Development Program of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education. The authors are also very grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor-in-chief Prof. Dr. Paolo Bertoldi for their insightful comments, which helped us considerably improve the quality of this paper. The authors are also grateful to Ms. Lu Xu and Ms. Ying Li for their efforts in preparing the original draft of the manuscript. The usual disclaimer applies.

Funding

This study received financial support from the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company cooperation program (202022141016A), and the Special Fund for Joint Development Program of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education.

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Author notes

  1. Yu Hao

    Present address: School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Grid Henan Economic Research Institute, Zhengzhou, 450002, China

    Meng Yang, Hujun Li, Fangzhao Deng & Qinchen Yang

  2. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ning Ba, Yunxia Guo & Haitao Wu

  3. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ning Ba, Yunxia Guo, Haitao Wu & Yu Hao

  4. Beijing Key Lab of Energy Economics and Environmental Management, Beijing, 100081, China

    Muhammad Irfan

  5. Department of Business Administration, Ilma University, Karachi, 75190, Pakistan

    Muhammad Irfan & Yu Hao

  6. Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yu Hao

  7. Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing, 314000, China

    Yu Hao

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Contributions

Meng Yang: Writing—original draft, Investigation. Hujun Li: Supervision, Formal analysis, Writing—review & editing. Fangzhao Deng: Formal analysis, Software, Investigation. Qinchen Yang: Writing—original draft, Software. Ning Ba: Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Investigation, Software. Yunxia Guo: Data Curation, Writing—original draft. Haitao Wu: Conceptualization, Project administration, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. Muhammad Irfan: Formal analysis, Writing—original draft. Yu Hao: Conceptualization, Writing—review & editing, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Supervision.

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Yang, M., Li, H., Deng, F. et al. Inclusivity between internet development and energy conservation in Henan, China. Energy Efficiency 16, 64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-023-10144-2

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