Industrial total factor CO2 emission performance assessment of Chinese heavy industrial province

Industry is the largest consumer of energy and CO2 emission sector. Recognizing the heterogeneity of total factor CO2 emission performances between various industrial sub-sectors is crucial for governments, to enable the compilation of effective industrial CO2 emission reduction policies. To determine the CO2 emission characteristics throughout the industry sectors, Liaoning province was selected as typical heavy industry province for analysis. Based on the input-output data of 37 industrial sub-sectors from 2003 to 2012, the industrial total factor CO2 emission efficiencies and performances were analyzed through data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index. The results show that most sub-sectors have low total factor CO2 emission efficiencies, which indicates that it is difficult for Liaoning’s industry to reduce carbon emissions. The total factor CO2 emission performance of the overall industry declined by 1.85% per year during the study period; this decrease was mainly related to a lack in implementing technical changes. However, efficiency change showed a progressive trend. These findings indicate that to realize carbon reduction in heavy industry provinces within China, it is necessary to focus on expediting technical change.