Performance analysis of CO2 emissions and energy efficiency of metal industries in China

Nonferrous metal industries play an important role in China's national economy and are some of the country's largest energy consumers. To better understand the nature of CO2 emissions from these industries and to further move towards low-carbon development in this industry sector, this study investigates the CO2 emissions of 12 nonferrous metal industries from 2003 to 2010 based on their life-cycle assessments. It then classifies these industries into four “emission-efficiency” types through cluster analysis. The results show that (1) the industrial economy and energy consumption of China's nonferrous metal industries have grown rapidly, although their recent energy consumption rate shows a declining trend. (2) The copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, and magnesium industries, classified as high-emission industries, are the main contributors of CO2 emissions. The results have implications for policy decisions that aim to enhance energy efficiency, particularly for promoting the transformation of low-efficiency industries to high-efficiency ones. The study also highlights the important role of policy development in technological innovations, optimization, and upgrades, the reduction of coal proportion in energy consumption, and the advancement of new energy sources.