当前我国面临经济转型升级迫切、资源环境约束加剧的严峻挑战，随着我国未来工业化、城镇化水平不断提升，全国能源供求格局还会发生剧烈的变化。考虑到城市拥有相对独立的经济发展规律和行政管理机制，展开对城市能源利用效率的研究，对于实现能源高质量发展具有重要理论和现实意义。精确测算城市能源利用效率，分析总体特征与动态变化，进一步研究能源利用效率影响因素，能够为政府制定科学合理的能源政策提供量化决策参考，对提高城市能源利用效率产生积极作用。
本文利用基于非合意产出的SBM-DEA模型测算分析了全国279个城市2008-2016年的能源利用效率，在此基础上，实证研究选取的影响因素对能源利用效率的作用方向，探索背后的影响机制，在考虑空间交互效应的前提下，分析各种因素对能源利用效率的综合影响效果，得到的主要结论如下： 
2008-2016年全国的平均能源利用效率基本保持稳定，但城市间差异性很大；能源利用效率空间分布呈现整体分散、由沿海向内陆递减的特点；东部城市能源利用效率显著高于其他地区，东北、西部能源利用效率相近，均低于中部；较高效的城市数量少但局部聚集，多出现在东部地区，中效及以下区域的城市数量多，分布在全国各地；一线城市的能源利用效率远远高于非一线城市，新一线城市和二三线城市彼此差距很小，四五线城市与其他城市差距突出、逐步扩大，总体呈现“马太效应”；能源利用效率与经济发展水平存在“U”型关系，人力资本和外商投资情况对能源利用效率有正向影响，产业结构和科技进步产生负向影响，政府干预影响效果不确定，各影响因素对不同区域的作用方向大小也各不相同；能源利用效率存在空间自相关性，人力资本、产业结构、外商投资有负向的空间溢出效应，其中人力资本和外商投资的副作用只会损害其他城市能源利用效率；科技进步有正向的空间溢出效应，外商投资和科技进步则存在一定的反馈效应。

China is currently facing severe challenges of urgent economic transformation and upgrading, exacerbated resource and environmental constraints. With the continuous improvement of China's industrialization and urbanization in the future, the national energy supply and demand pattern will also undergo drastic changes. Considering that cities have relatively independent economic development laws and administrative management mechanisms, carrying out research on urban energy utilization efficiency has important theoretical and practical significance for achieving high-quality energy development. Accurate measurement of urban energy utilization efficiency, analysis of overall characteristics and dynamic changes, and further study of factors affecting energy use efficiency can provide a quantitative decision-making reference for the government to formulate scientific and reasonable energy policies, which have a positive effect on improving urban energy utilization efficiency.
This paper uses the SBM-DEA model based on undesirable output to measure and analyze the energy utilization efficiency of 279 cities in 2008-2016. Furthermore, the study discuss the direction of the selected influencing factors on energy efficiency, and explore the underlying mechanism and, analyze the comprehensive effect of various factors on energy efficiency Under the premise of considering the spatial interaction effect. The main conclusions are as follows:
From 2008 to 2016, China's average energy utilization efficiency remained basically stable, but the difference between cities was large. The spatial distribution of energy utilization efficiency showed the characteristics of overall dispersion and decreasing from the coast to the inland. The energy utilization efficiency of eastern cities was significantly higher than other regions, followed by the central region, the energy efficiency of the northeast and the west was similar. Higher efficiency cities’ number was small but they gathered locally. which were mostly found in the eastern region, and cities in the middle and below efficiency was mostly distributed throughout the country, which number is larger than higher efficiency cities. The energy utilization efficiency of the first-tier cities was far higher in non-first-tier cities, the gap between new first-tier cities and second- and third-tier cities was very small. The gap between fourth- and fifth-tier cities and other cities was prominent and gradually expanding, showing a "Matthew effect" in general. There is a "U" shape in energy efficiency and economic development level Relationship, human capital and foreign investment have a positive impact on energy efficiency, industrial structure and scientific and technological progress have a negative impact, the effect of government intervention is uncertain. There is a significant spatial agglomeration of energy utilization efficiency. Foreign investment has a significant negative spatial spillover effect. Human capital and foreign investment play an active role in improving energy efficiency in this city, with its’ side effects would damage other energy efficiency city. Scientific and technological progress has a positive space spillover effect, foreign investment and technological progress has a certain feedback effect.