Research on Evolution in the Center of Gravity and a Contribution Decomposition of Energy–Related CO ₂ Emissions at the Provincial Level in China

Abstract

First, a center of gravity model is used to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of CO2 emissions. Then, the contribution decomposition method is used to study the contribution of provincial regions to gravity movement. The movement in the center of gravity of CO2 emissions can be divided into roughly two stages: the first stage, 1995–2006, and the second stage, 2006–2015. In the first stage, the center of gravity moved to southwest mainly because of promotion of the northeastern region; in the second stage, the center of gravity moved to the northwest mainly because of the pull of the northwestern region.