Digital transformation and green total energy efficiency in the context of the "dual carbon" goal ——Empirical evidence based on China's A-share energy listed companies

Globally, digital transformation will be the most important driver of future economic growth. China has been pushing forward the "dual-carbon" goal, planning to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The energy industry is the main battlefield and the main position for practicing the strategy of green and low-carbon development of energy, and digital transformation in the era of digital economy is not only an important path to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional energy enterprises and the development of new business forms in the field of energy, but also an inevitable choice for realizing the goal of "dual-carbon". This paper focuses on the green value of digital transformation, based on the panel data of China's A-share listed energy enterprises from 2017 to 2022, uses the super-efficient SBM-Malmquist index model to measure the green total factor energy efficiency of energy enterprises, and empirically examines the impact of digital transformation on the green total factor productivity and the path of its effect. The findings show that digital transformation enhances green total factor productivity through green technological innovation and management efficiency; heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital transformation enhances green total factor energy efficiency more significantly in new energy automobile industry, private enterprises and state-owned enterprises, and enterprises in East and South China. Therefore, the strategic value of digital transformation should be emphasized to accelerate the empowerment of energy system technology innovation and management optimization efficiency.