Analysis on China’s Recent Situation and Measurement of Energy Conservation and Emissions Reduction

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine China’s approach to achieve energy conservation and emissions reduction. A questionnaire with rated response is designed to investigate people’s understanding and attitudes to energy conservation and emissions reduction. As climate change is more relevant to the next generation, two groups (the married and the unmarried) are compared in the survey, the findings indicate that the married couples pay more attention to the issue of carbon emissions. The author applies Likert scaling method to analyze the data. Results indicate that emotional attachment, budget constrain, loss averse and imposed risks can be used to explain why WTAC is much larger than WTP. China's carbon emissions have accounted for 24% of the world's carbon emissions since 2011, and that brings China great pressure to reduce emissions. Direct regulation, marked-based instruments such as taxes and subsidies, and low carbon economic development especially energy efficiency improvement as well as clean energy development are recommended to solve the issue of carbon emissions.