Energy utilization, environmental quality and sustainable economic development: Evidence from Shandong Province in China

Nowadays, sustainable economic development is the key issue in the world. In this paper, we take Shandong Province as an example to analyze the relationship between energy use, environmental quality and economic development. Through the study, we find that the correlation between nominal income per capita and environmental quality can be shown in Kuznets inverted U-shaped curve. After 2020, with per capita income increasing, total amount of environmental pollutants will decline slowly; The relationship between per capita income and discharge amount of sulfur dioxide is consistent with EKC theory and is shown in inverted U-shaped curve, but the per capita income has no similar pattern with the other three environmental indicators; Although efficiency of energy utilization in Shandong Province increased steadily in recent years, but the rapid economic growth heavily depends on natural resources, and extensive mode of economic growth remains. Irrational industrial structure is the main cause for structural unbalance of energy consumption and environmental degradation in Shandong Province. It is argued that readjusting industrial structure and improving environment system of environmental pollution are the primary issuesin the reform.