| The need to provide adequate, sustainable, and environmentally sound supplies of energy to fuel global economic growth has created an imperative for improving Energy Efficiency (EE). One of the most critical issue is identifying effective forms of public interventions to improve industrial EE within varied institutional system. Based on the approaches of free market, state regulation, and governance, many researchers tried to provide some "prescriptions" for overcoming EE barriers. However, limited research has been found on specific intervening strategies and processes, e.g. the intervention objectives, tools and scopes, in different state and political systems in improving industrial EE. A few of international comparative studies tend to focus on different political systems, policies and macroeconomic comparison of EE at the national level, and little discussion has been put on public intervention at the local level. "Analytical framework of public intervention in improving industrial EE" provides a widely adaptive framework for analyzing public intervention in different political systems by identifying public institutions, intervention modes and tools, the implementation process and proposing effective factors of public intervention for industrial EE.China and Germany are two countries representing developing and developed countries respectively. Since both countries have applied many measures to improve energy efficiency, the two countries provide solid cases for analyzing public intervention process. The study is mainly drawn from related policies, reports, literature, intensive fieldwork including 44 interviews conducted in Hangzhou and Guiyang and 25 interviews and questionnaires for German enterprises in Wuppertal and Duisburg from 2012 to 2015. Experiences of both countries show analysis of public intervention should adopt local approach as it is vital for analysing and interpreting the processes, mechanism and results of intervening process. The public intervention mode and implementation mode are quite difference between China and Germany: China uses planned-pressure mode and Germany favours guided-voluntary mode; implementation mode in China can be summarized as adaptive implementation under unitary system while in Germany it is programmed implementation under federal system. In addition, intervention mode, strategy and its implementation of industrial energy EE is highly related to the political system, market function, social system and stage of development of the country. However, public intervention tools and local intervention mechanism still have relatively broad applicability. Similar factors in improving industrial EE have been found in both countries:(1) indirect, transparent and open ways of subsidies; (2) an effective information platform for distributing EE related information; (3) professional EE consultancy for first-time enquirer; (4) the implementation of professional agencies; (5) strict regulation of minimum EE standards; (6) open and effective communication mechanisms and high public awareness.This Sino-German EE research contributes to public intervention and EE study in three different ways. First, this study indicates the importance of local study in public intervention studies. From local approach, this study proposes a widely applicable analytical framework of public intervening strategies and implementation. By using this framework, it sums up the two different modes of public intervention in China and Germany. Second, this study contributes to the paradigm of policy implementation by identifying two implementation modes and indicating that each mode has its own rationality and applicability. Third, this study concludes the factors that affecting the effectiveness of EE actions. Meanwhile, it also provides policy recommendations for China’s government, social organizations and related participators.
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