Study on the decoupling effect of energy consumption and economic growth in the construction industry of Guangxi (People’s Republic of China) from the perspective of the circular economy

摘要

Based on relevant data of the Guangxi construction industry from 2008 to 2016, including the regional GDP, the construction industry GDP, the energy consumption in the construction industry, and other indicators, this study analysed the relationship between the energy consumption in the construction industry and economic growth. The Tapio decoupling model and ecological efficiency evaluation model were applied to analyse the above data. Empirical tests revealed that there exists a weak decoupling relationship between the energy consumption and economic growth in the construction industry of Guangxi. Despite the weak decoupling relationship, the ecological efficiency value is only 0.1012. This result proves that the development level of the circular economy in the construction industry of Guanxi is below the average level, and the sustainable utilization of energy is insufficient. At the end of this article, based on the decoupling effect and production efficiency from 2009 to 2016, suggestions are formulated, including prioritizing the development of the construction industry and increasing the economic input to promote industrial upgrading.