Regional decomposition of an energy-saving target: The case of Sichuan Province in China

In order to manifest the fundamental principle that twenty-one regions of Sichuan should take the common but differentiated responsibility of energy conservation, the Energy-saving Target Comprehensive Evaluation System consisting of three layers and covering 12 basic indicators was established with the aim to decompose the energy-saving target during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period into different regions. Using the analytic hierarchy process, the energy-saving responsibility each region should take was determined according to the criterion that the higher the evaluation score the greater the responsibility the area will have. Using fuzzy clustering analysis, the 21 regions were divided into five categories according to the similar degrees of 12 basic indicators. Each of Sichuan's regions was classified by the researchers into five different energy-saving target categories; requiring reductions of 18%, 16%, 15%, 14%, and 12% in energy intensity.