Does artificial intelligence improve energy efficiency? Evidence from provincial data in China

IF 13.6 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Energy Economics Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.eneco.2024.108149

Xin Li , Shiyuan Li , Jifeng Cao , Andrei Cristian Spulbar

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Abstract

As global energy demand rises and environmental awareness increases, improving energy efficiency (EE) has become crucial to achieving sustainable development. This paper employs a two-way fixed effects panel model using data from 30 provinces in China, from 2000 to 2021, to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on EE. The research results reveal that advancements in AI have greatly facilitated the improvement of EE. Furthermore, green technology innovation capability plays a positive moderating role between AI and EE. A heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of AI on EE is more significant in economically-developed regions. In energy-deficient regions, AI can significantly improve EE, whereas conversely, in energy-abundant regions, AI's impact on EE is negative. Further analysis using a spatial Durbin model (SDM) confirms the presence of spatial effects in the impact of AI on EE. This paper aims to expand the scholarly understanding of the relationship between AI and EE and provides empirical evidence for decision-makers during this critical period of energy transition. By delving into the potential of AI to enhance EE, the paper seeks to illuminate specific strategies and approaches for policymakers and industry participants.

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来源期刊

Energy Economics ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

18.60

自引率

12.50%

发文量

524

期刊介绍： Energy Economics is a field journal that focuses on energy economics and energy finance. It covers various themes including the exploitation, conversion, and use of energy, markets for energy commodities and derivatives, regulation and taxation, forecasting, environment and climate, international trade, development, and monetary policy. The journal welcomes contributions that utilize diverse methods such as experiments, surveys, econometrics, decomposition, simulation models, equilibrium models, optimization models, and analytical models. It publishes a combination of papers employing different methods to explore a wide range of topics. The journal's replication policy encourages the submission of replication studies, wherein researchers reproduce and extend the key results of original studies while explaining any differences. Energy Economics is indexed and abstracted in several databases including Environmental Abstracts, Fuel and Energy Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, GEOBASE, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Journal of Economic Literature, INSPEC, and more.