Dynamic Factor Analysis of Trends in Temporal–Spatial Patterns of China’s Coal Consumption

Sustainability

Yuhuan Sun¹  Qian Li¹  Ting Chen¹  Xiaoai Jia²  Yongrok Choi³  Malin Song³ 

[1] School of Statistics, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China; E-Mails:;School of Statistics, Shandong Institute of Business and Technology, Yantai 264005, China; E-Mail:School of Statistics, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China;

关键词: coal consumption;    temporal and spatial patterns;    ArcGIS;    barycenter model;    spatial econometrics;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su71115119

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes coal consumption in the 31 provinces and regions of China from 1995 to 2012. Using spatial analysis in Arc geographical information systems (ArcGIS) and the concept of the center of gravity in physics, we explore the regional differences in temporal-spatial coal consumption and the factors influencing them. The results show that China’s coal consumption increased yearly, especially after 2003. It exhibits a marked spatial clustering phenomenon; consumption in the south and east exceeded that in the north and west respectively. Moreover, the center of gravity of consumption gradually moved toward the southwest, indicating reducing gaps in coal consumption between the north-south and the east-west regions. Both the level of economic development and coal consumption are positively related with regional coal production. Promoting urbanization and increasing the proportion of the tertiary industry can effectively reduce coal consumption and help readjust coal consumption patterns to sustainable levels.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.