Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 979: Comparison of CO2 emissions reduction efficiency of household fuel consumption in China (Sustainability)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the correlations among per capita gross domestic product (GDP), household fuel (natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas) consumption, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) at the regional and national level in China using data from 2003 to 2015. The results validate the EKC assumption and show that per capita GDP is positively related to CO2 emissions; per capita natural gas consumption has a negative impact on CO2 emissions; however, per capita liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption has a positive effect on CO2 emissions. Therefore, increasing natural gas consumption can effectively slow down the environmental degradation of China. Given rapid economic growth, changing the energy structure can improve the environment.