Research on the temporal and spatial evolution of energy efficiency and influencing factors in the Yellow River Basin

Liu Shengren; Liu Yaolong

Abstract：Improving total factor energy efficiency is the key to achieving high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.This study uses the super efficient SBM model,GML index model,and spatial exploratory analysis method to measure the total factor energy efficiency and its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of 9 provinces and regions in the Yellow River Basin from 1999 to 2020.Considering the characteristic of truncated data as the dependent variable,a panel Tobit model was constructed that includes five driving factors:economic development level,industrial structure,energy structure,population size,and environmental regulation,to test its driving effect on the total factor energy efficiency of the Yellow River Basin.The results show that the total factor energy efficiency value of the Yellow River Basin is relatively low,with increasing values in the upper,middle,and lower reaches,and significant regional differences.The inhibitory effect of technological efficiency on total factor energy efficiency is significantly higher than the driving effect of technological progress.From a spatial perspective,the upstream region is mainly dominated by Low-Low agglomeration,while the downstream region is mainly dominated by High-High agglomeration.There is a trend of evolution from High-Low agglomeration to Low-Low agglomeration in Sichuan and Inner Mongolia.From the perspective of driving factors,the level of economic development significantly positively affects the total factor energy efficiency of the Yellow River Basin,while the energy structure is exactly the opposite.And the mechanisms of action of various factors on the upstream,middle,and downstream regions are different.