Toward Low-Carbon Industry: Carbon Emission and Decoupling Status of Industry Sector in a Coastal City of Zhuhai, China

Economic growth and environment protection related to low-carbon emission are two important wings for a coastal city. Controlling the industrial energy consumption and carbon emission for a city level is essential for the local sustainable development. We investigate the low-carbon development for Zhuhai industrial sector from 2006 to 2016. Energy consumption, carbon emission, and industrial added value are selected as the basic parameters. Industrial energy consumption and carbon emission are calculated according to the national assessment method, and the decoupling situations are studied as well in this word. Results show that for most years, carbon emission is closely linked to energy consumption, there is little decoupling trend for these two parameters. However, energy consumption and industrial added value emerge strong or weak decoupling, and carbon emission and industrial value also have decoupling trend from 2011, which indicates the technical progress for Zhuhai industrial sector during the past ten years. The main driving forces for this decoupling trend are the adjustment of the industrial structures and the applications of energy-saving technology and schemes in the energy-intensity and carbon-intensity industrial sectors. In addition, controlling industrial energy consumption is urgently needed for the sake of carbon mitigation.