An Sduty On The Influencing Factors Of Carbon Emissions In Jiangxi Province

Since the Industrial Revolution, man has been in a greedy pursuit of economicdevelopment and material comforts. The endless use of fossil power has caused a dramaticincreasing of carbon emission. Available data suggest that carbon dioxide in theatmosphere has been increased since the Second Industrial Revolution in1860. The risingcurve has shown a tendency of a perpendicular rising line. As a consequence, this will leadto greenhouse effect, climate disorder and the rising of sea level. In the face of thesethreatenings, man has begun to consider the question of how to make a shift from thetraditional high-carbon economic development to the low-carbon economic development.Since the beginning of this century, Jiangxi Province, located in the center of China,has been economically undeveloped. With its rapid economic growth, carbon emission hasbeen increased drastically. The problem of maintaining a rapid growth of economy andreducing carbon emission at the same time turns out to be a great challenge for JiangxiProvince as well as other economically undeveloped areas in China. In view of this, astudy of what influences carbon emission in Jiangxi Province will have theoretical andpractical significance. The research findings will be of great value for Jiangxi Province tomeet the demand of reducing carbon emission, and for the government to make policies inestablishing the experimental city of low-carbon development. In addition, the study willbe helpful for other undeveloped areas to reduce carbon emission in the course ofeconomic development.The present study first makes a literature review of relative studies in this field.Based on the theoretical framework, we analyze the tendencies in carbon emission,economic development and consumption in Jiangxi Province. The development oflow-carbon economy in Jiangxi Province is assessed by employing the method of majorcomponent analysis. In addition to the theoretical and empirical analyses, the study adoptsthe STIRPAT model and the CLA model to make a quantitative analysis of the influenceson carbon emission in Jiangxi Province respectively from the aspects of economicdevelopment and residents’consumption style. Based on the STIRPAT model and time-series data we have arrived at severalimportant discoveries. From1999to2010economic growth has made a major impact oncarbon emission in JiangXi Province. Changes in both secondary industry and tertiaryindustry have a positive effect on carbon emission, and this proves to be an importantinfluence on carbon emission in JiangXi Province. This means that the adjustment ofindustrial structure has laid an increasing burden on the environment, and consequently itactively leads to carbon emission. In this regard, it is necessary for JiangXi Province tostrengthen the adjustment and improvement of industrial structure.With the method of Consumer Lifestyle Approach (CLA), we make a analysis of howurban and rural residents of Jiangxi Province influence energy consumption and carbonemission from2003to2010. The comparative analysis leads to a few findings. First, theliving activities of urban residents directly and indirectly have a great impact on energyconsumption and carbon emission. The indirect carbon emission is slightly higher than thedirect one, but the difference between them has been gradually decreasing. Second, theliving activities of rural residents have less indirect effects on carbon emission. The directcarbon emission is markedly higher than the indirect one, with a gradually increasingdifference between them. Third, with regard to the overall energy consumption and carbonemission for fundamental living activities of both urban and rural residents, there has beenan increasing tendency year by year. Electricity and coal, in particular, are found to be themajor sources for direct energy consumption and carbon emission. As to urban residents,indirect carbon emission mainly comes from three kinds of activities, including food,housing and recreational, educational and cultural service; whereas for rural residents,food is found to be the primary source for indirect carbon emission, accounting for a largeproportion of the total. It shows that different living styles between urban and ruralresidents lead to the great differences in energy consumption and carbon emission. On thisaccount, we should taken into consideration different urban and rural situations in policymaking.Finally, based on the above analysis, this paper intends to put forward somesuggestions on reducing carbon emission in Jiangxi Provence: to construct a low-carbonindustrial system and promote industrial upgrading; to develop low-carbon technology and enhance economic development; to improve low-carbon energy structure and promote themultiplicity of energy structure; to employ a low-carbon management mode and carry outa profitable economic transition; to optimize national consumption structure and maintainsustained consumption; to give play to ecological advantages to develop low-carboneconomy and enhance open economy to attract high-end industry.