Provincial Allocation of Energy Consumption, Air Pollutant and CO2 Emission Quotas in China: Based on a Weighted Environment ZSG-DEA Model
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The problem addressed in the article is relevant and timely. The Chinese government’s targets for reducing CO2 emissions are clearly stated. However, the scientific formulation of the problem is not sufficient. Therefore, the scientific problem addressed in the article should be clarified.
The concept of "relationship between energy consumption, air pollutant emissions and CO2 emissions" should be clarified by defining "air pollutant emissions" (58-59). The conjunction "and" is used here: "air pollutant emissions and CO2 emissions". However, the term "air pollutants or CO2 emissions" is used in conjunction with the "or" suffix in (68), so the use of the terms should be clarified. It is not clear whether "air pollutant emissions" and "CO2 emissions" are used as different concepts or synonyms.
The aim of the article and the objectives should be defined more detail.
The article lacks in-depth scientific discussion and disclosure of the novelty of the research. The literature review presented in the article lacks a broader analysis of international research on the topic under consideration.
The methodology used in the article is clearly presented.
It is recommended to demonstrate research significance more clearly. At the end of the article it is recommended to present the conclusions that would reveal the significance and novelty of the performed research in more detail.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript by Song et al. presented a detailed work on provincial allocation quotas of energy combustion, SO2 and NOx, and CO2 emission using a weighted environmental ZSG-DEA model. I have no serious concerns about the meteorology, however, I think the biggest weakness of this work is that only SO2 and NOx were selected as air pollutants. The fact that these two pollutants do not have the priority for controlling as PM2.5 and O3 did. From this point, conclusions of this work thus do not have much insights. Additionally, there is also a trade-off there to formulate an optimal reduction solution that can work for multiple pollutants.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
