Analysis of Global Energy Consumption Convergence —Based on the Method of Phillips & Sul

By adopting 27 countries of OECD(developed countries)and 5 countries of BRICS(rapidly developing countries)as the sample, this study applied the method put forward by Phillips & Sul(2007)in analyzing the convergence of per capita energy consumption. The result of empirical research shows that the convergence is nonexistent overall. With the exception of Iceland, the energy consumption per capita of the other 26 developed countries converges, while another energy consumption per capita of 5 developing countries of converges with a slow speed, which is obviously slower than that of developed countries. The analysis of convergence shows that the evolution of per capita energy consumption between developed and developing countries evinces the characteristics of differentiation, while the evolution of per capita consumption among developed countries as well as developing countries is similar, which indicates great potential for energy-saving policy cooperation between developed and developing countries. This means that with the constraints of global energy and global climate change, the developed and developing countries have lots of difficulties in reaching agreement in energy-saving policy, while in constrast, the consensus of energy-saving policy among developed countries or developing countries will be more easily achieved.