Coordinated development of energy, economy and environment subsystems-A case study

The coordination degree of energy, economic and environment (EEE) system is a typical parameter to evaluate the sustainable development. A coordination index and a comprehensive evaluation model were proposed for the EEE systems. With the proposed model, Shandong Province is employed for case study with the data inputs which covers a time frame of 2004-2012. The result shows that the development speeds of energy system and economic system were decreasing but their development quality kept increasing. There is an obvious positive relationship between these two systems. The development quality of environmental system fluctuated a lot and shows a decreasing trend. The average annual decreasing rate for environmental system was 19.44% in the study period. The trend of coordination index for energy and economic systems is the same with the overall index of the EEE system, indicating it is a key driving force for the overall index. All the three systems were analyzed by the method of principal factor analysis, with the result implying a relation of firm connection. Economic development demands a strong support of energy. But this could also lead to the deterioration of environment due to the industry-leading economic structure and coal-leading energy consumption. High-energy consumption, fast economic development and low environmental quality occur simultaneously. In order to achieve sustainable development, Shandong has to optimize energy and industrial structure, improve energy efficiency and enhance environmental protection. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.