Abstract: The global environment problems caused by carbon emission attract more and more attention all over the world, the study on regional industrial carbon emission can provide the theoretical basis to the countries for saving energy, reducing carbon emission and exploring lowcarbon development path. In this paper, the relationships between the industrial carbon emission and its affecting factors were analyzed using the grey correlation model based on the panel data from the five provinces and autonomous regions in northwest China during the period of 19992010, which included the data of energy consumption, GDP, population, and calculated industrial carbon emission. The results are as follows: ① From the viewpoint of total energy consumption, the industrial carbon emission in the five provinces and autonomous regions in northwest China was in an increase trend in a fluctuation way. The carbon emissions in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang were increased from 3.22×107 t, 3.05×107 t, 7.80×106 t, 1.12×107 t and 3.02×107 t in 1999 to 1.24×108 t, 6.86×107 t, 2.15×107 t, 5.76×107 t and 9.29×107 t in 2010, respectively. The carbon emission in Shaanxi was higher than the national average from 2008. The per capita carbon emissions in Gansu in different years were higher than those of other four provinces; ② Spatially, the industrial carbon emission was in an order of Shaanxi>Xinjiang>Gansu>Ningxia>Qinghai; ③ There was a certain correlation between the industrial carbon emission and the affecting factors in the five provinces and autonomous regions in northwest China, and it was in an order of economic effect>population effect>structure effect>technical effect; ④ The correlation values between the industrial carbon emission and the affecting factors were different from different provinces and autonomous regions: the population effect was in an order of Ningxia>Gansu>Xinjiang>Qinghai>Shaanxi, the economic effect was in an order of Xinjiang>Ningxia>Qinghai>Shaanxi>Gansu, the structure effect was in an order of Gansu>Ningxia>Qinghai>Xinjiang>Shaanxi, and the technical effect was in an order of Ningxia>Qinghai>Xinjiang>Shaanxi>Gansu.

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