The natural gas consumption and mortality nexus: A mediation analysis

ABSTRACT

Boosting natural gas consumption can contribute to a healthy China. To examine the link between natural gas consumption and mortality, this study utilizes a balanced panel dataset including 30 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2019. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method is employed to reveal the long-term cointegration, and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H) test is further applied to explore the causal relations. Moreover, this study estimates the mediation effects of particulate matter (PM 2.5) emissions on mortality. The empirical results indicate that climbing natural gas consumption can effectively reduce the mortality rate. At the national level, a 1% increase in natural gas consumption leads to a 0.02% decrease in the mortality rate. In addition, the causality analysis uncovers the existence of significant regional heterogeneity. An increase in natural gas consumption will exert a stronger impact in curbing mortality in high gross domestic product (High-GDP) or high natural gas consumption (High-NG) regions. In addition to directly affecting mortality, natural gas consumption also has an indirect impact through the mediation effects of PM 2.5 emissions. Finally, implications for policy and practice are put forward for the Chinese government pertaining to build a healthy China and advance the natural gas industry. • The nexus between natural gas consumption and mortality in China is investigated for 2001–2019. • Natural gas consumption negatively affects mortality rates. • Bidirectional causality link between natural gas consumption and mortality rate is detected. • Natural gas consumption not only directly affects mortality but also indirectly affect mortality by influencing PM 2.5 emissions. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Energy is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)