An Empirical Analysis of Time Window for Energy Consumption Inflection Point in China

Based on the environmental Kuznets curve theory, using of panel data of 27 provinces in China during 1990 -2008 and the panel unit root and cointegration methods, the time window for per capita energy consumption inflection point is empirically researched. The results are as follows: China and its eastern and central regions have the environmental Kuznets curve for per capita energy consumption, but it does not exist in the western region. On this basis, the paper studies the scenario analysis for achieving the inflection point of per capita energy consumption for provinces in the eastern and central regions and depicts their specific time path, and finds that China and its provinces in eastern and central regions can have the win-win and decoupling development between economic growth and energy consumption by reducing the energy intensity.