Has energy efficiency performance improved in China?-non-energy sectors evidence from sequenced hybrid energy use tables

- The fundamentals of HEI and MEI are thorough revisited and upgraded in the context of macro energy policy.
- The problem of data availability is solved through constructing Sequenced Hybrid Energy Use Tables in an I-O framework.
- Sectors variability patterns and divergent time pathways in HEIs and MEIs are illustrated and compared.
- How and why dynamic evolution are different in HEI and MEI are exposed with LMDI decomposition model.

We conduct a comparative analysis of two energy efficiency indicators for China: heating value energy intensity (HEI) and economic value energy intensity (MEI). We formulate 1997-2002-2007-2012 hybrid energy comparable sequence use tables in an input-output accounting framework, and compare the two indicators using a randomized block ANOVA. The results show that MEIs and HEIs have significantly different variability patterns among sectors and are evolutionarily divergent over time. The directional changes in MEI and HEI are found to be inconsistent at both the sectoral and national levels. A further analysis with a LMDI index decomposition model shows that the difference between HEI LMDI and HEI LMDI is principally caused by energy prices. Based on the evidence from the two indicators and their relationship to energy prices, we are unconvinced about China's purported improvements in energy efficiency in recent years.

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