Research on Temporal and Spatial Impact of China’s Provincial Renewable Energy Consumption on Carbon Emissions

Renewable energy consumption is a strong driving force for promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, and is a new path to clean and low-carbon development. Based on this, in this paper, the data of renewable energy consumption level, carbon emissions, national economic development level, population, energy efficiency, rationality of industrial structure and fossil energy consumption in 30 provinces of China from 2011 to 2020 was used to make an empirical analysis on the impact of renewable energy power consumption on carbon emissions in China’s provinces through STIRPAT model, comprehensively considering the horizontal spatial dimension and vertical time dimension. The results are as follows. (1) The carbon emissions of provinces in China show a significant spatial spillover effect, and a positive correlation between “high-high” and “low-low” agglomeration in spatial distribution. (2) In general, China’s renewable energy consumption has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions. In terms of sub-regions, renewable energy consumption in western regions plays a leading role in the impact on carbon emissions. (3) Energy efficiency and rationalization of industrial structure significantly inhibit carbon emissions, while the level of national economic development, population and fossil energy consumption significantly increase carbon emissions. In this paper, policy recommendations are proposed to promote regional utilization, improve infrastructure construction, solve the problem of wind and electricity abandonment, and seek a balance between supply and demand.