Decoupling Of Economic Growth And Energy Consumption In Transportation Industry

In the world,transportation sector is both the major sector consuming petroleum and the second largest energy consumption sector only behind industrial sector.The great energy consumption of transportation sectors not only threatens global energy security but also increasingly aggravates the environmental pollution pressure.The United States is recognized as a transportation powerhouse in the world,and transportation energy consumption has remained the world’s first for a long time.However,the slow growth of energy consumption in recent years is in stark contrast to the rapid growth of China.Because the country’s land area and economic aggregate are similar to China,this provides a comparable basic condition for transportation energy consumption.Therefore,this paper compares the decoupling between China and the US economic growth and transportation energy consumption.By using decoupling analysis,the differences and similarities of energy consumptions of transportation sectors in China and the United States are compared.The results show that the three decoupling models have reached a relatively consistent conclusion in the short,medium and long term,that is,the dependence of China’s transportation sectors on energy consumptions is far larger than that of the United States.Furthermore,by constructing a logarithmic mean divisia index(LMDI)model,the influence factors of energy consumptions of transportation sectors in China and the United States are analyzed from five perspectives(energy intensity of transportation sectors,transportation structure,traffic intensity,economic growth and population size).On this basis,the reason why the two countries show decoupling difference is explained.The research reveals that the influence of traffic intensity,economic growth and population size on transportation energy consumption(TEC)in China is consistent with that in the United States.However,the influence of the transportation energy intensity and transportation structure on the TEC in China is opposite to that in the United States.Why the two countries show difference is attributed to two aspects: on the one hand,the rebound effect of China’s TEC is more significant than the effect of technological progress,causing a negative influence of the transportation energy intensity;on the other hand,China’s infrastructure is relatively weak and the transportation market is not saturated,causing a positive influence of transportation structure.Eventually,according to research conclusions,relevant policies and suggestions are put forward in order to realize energy conservation and emission reduction of China’s transportation sectors.