Pollutants Emissions from Energy Consumption: Emissions Intensity Decomposition and the Determinants (A case study of Iran)

Pollutants emissions intensity in Iran which is mainly originated from energy consumption is higher than those of the global one. In this context, the current study aims at investigating emissions intensity determinants in the Iranian economy. To get the objective, decomposition analysis (index decomposition technique) was applied to decompose the energy intensity to its components. Then, the determinants of emissions intensity were examined using the regression model. The selected pollutants are NOx, SO2, CO, CO2. The data were related to 1367-96 (1988-2017). The results for all pollutants revealed that emission coefficient (emission per unit of energy) and energy intensity in services and manufacturing sectors have the highest contribution to emissions intensity. The findings suggested that the manufacturing sector plays a central role in SO2 emissions and a 1% increase in emission coefficient and energy intensity in the sector will increase emissions intensity by 0.6 and 0.5%, respectively. The services sector has a more important role in the emissions of the remaining pollutants and the corresponding values are 0.8% and 0.45-0.9%, respectively. Furthermore, urbanization could increase emissions intensity significantly. However, economy openness failed to affect emissions intensity significantly..