Clustering of economic efficiency of urban energy carbon emissions based on decoupling theory

Abstract

With the increasing industrialization and urbanization since the 21st century, global economy has also shown an unprecedented rapid growth. At the same time, energy consumption and carbon emissions (CE) are also increasing, which brings a series of ecological damage problems, especially the excessive emission of CO2-based greenhouse gases has led to the problem of global warming, posing a threat to people’s living environment. Global urban CE account for as high as 75%, and the balance between urban energy CE and economic growth needs to be solved urgently. This article mainly analysis the relationship between urban energy CE and economic efficiency, and uses Tapio decoupling index model and K-means clustering algorithm to conduct decoupling state analysis and clustering analysis respectively. Findings show that the economic efficiency of energy consumption CE in these 10 cities is clustered into three types: high-value area, medium-value area and low-value area of carbon emission economic efficiency. Based on the decoupling theory, this paper conducts a cluster analysis on the economic efficiency of urban energy CE to provide certain methods and data support for the formulation of urban CE decoupling policies in the future.