Efficient saving targets of electricity and energy for regions in China

This paper computes the three major types of efficient electricity, coal, and gasoline oil savings for 27 regions in China during the period 2000–2003. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) with a single output (real GDP) and five inputs (labor, real capital stock, coal consumption, gasoline oil consumption, and electricity consumption) is used to compute the energy-saving targets of each region for each year. The efficient energy-saving ratios of each region in each year are obtained by comparing the actual energy inputs to target energy inputs. Our major findings are as follows: 1. The east area contains most of the efficient regions with respect to the three major types of energy in every year during the research period. 2. The east, central, and west areas have 2000–2003 average target saving ratios of coal consumption at 18.58%, 44.00%, and 59.80%, gasoline consumption at 13.43%, 22.70%, and 45.04%, and electricity consumption at 8.55%, 16.42%, and 43.70%, respectively. 3. Compared to the cases of gasoline oil and electricity, coal consumption saving is China’s most urgent task.