Factor Decomposition of Carbon Intensity in China:Based on LMDI Method

This paper presents the analysis on China's total carbon intensity and that in six industries from 1996 to 2009,and the popular decomposition method-the logarithmic mean Divisia index(LMDI) has been adopted to analyze carbon intensity of China.The results show that total carbon intensity has decreased 2.9078 t/104 Yuan,and the decrease of energy intensity is the most important contributor,accounting for 85.64%of the total carbon intensity reduction.The optimization of energy structure is the second contributor for the decrease,accounting for 26.78%.While the change of industrial structure has limited impact on decreasing carbon intensity and it results in the small increase of carbon intensity.The findings suggest that the decrease of energy intensity has played a dominant role in the short term,but the potential power of optimization of industrial and the energy structure are to be witnessed in the long run.