Energy Consumption and Influence Factors of Urban Residents in China

Based on the cross-section data of direct, indirect and total energy consumption of Chinese 30 provincial urban residents during the period of 2008—2012, this paper makes an inspection of spatial autocorrelation between the provincial urban residential energy consumption and analyzes influence factors of urban residential energy consumption by using the method of spatial econometrics and other relevant theories. The empirical results show that, both the indirect and total energy consumption of urban residential have positive significant spatial correlation and the spatial correlation of direct urban residential energy consumption is not significant; energy prices and the population size of urban are important factors influencing urban residential energy consumption in China, therefore, the Chinese government needs to control the urban population size and keep the residential energy price stable in order to ensure the normal life of residents when implementing energy market reform; at the same time, the government should actively guide and improve the energy consumption pattern of urban residents, encourage and advocate an environmental green travel mode to save energy and protect the environment.