Research into the Path and Mechanism by Which Intelligent Manufacturing Promotes Carbon Emission Reductions

Abstract

Utilizing a longitudinal dataset encompassing 30 Chinese provinces and municipalities (with the exception of Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) that spans the years 2011 through to 2021, this study adopts the spatial Durbin model to study the path and mechanism behind the promotion of carbon emission reductions through intelligent manufacturing. The results show the following: ① Intelligent manufacturing plays a crucial role in promoting the reduction of carbon emissions. ② Government interventions can amplify the positive influence of intelligent manufacturing in reducing carbon emissions, and intelligent manufacturing promotes carbon emission reductions by accelerating scientific and technological innovation. ③ There is temporal heterogeneity: upgrading intelligent manufacturing exerted a substantial influence in advancing the reduction of carbon emissions during the timeframe from 2011 to 2019, while it exerted a notable impeding impact on the reduction of carbon emissions during the timeframe from 2011 to 2019. ④ There is spatial heterogeneity: in the eastern region, upgrading intelligent manufacturing promoted carbon emission reductions in 2011–2015, but it inhibited carbon emission reductions in 2016–2021. Consequently, here are the insights we have distilled: ① Enhancing the overall advancement level of intelligent manufacturing can effectively promote carbon emission reductions in China; ② It can also play an important role in guiding governments in making these upgrades and actively promoting them in conjunction with technological innovations.