Delayed retirement and digitalization drive energy efficiency in China’s low-carbon transition

Introduction: China’s energy transition is confronted with intertwined challenges of unprecedented demographic shifts (persistent low fertility, population decline, rapid aging), the rapid expansion of the digital economy, and the imperative of green low-carbon transformation. The 2025 delayed retirement policy has reshaped the labor market structure of energy system operation and maintenance, while digitalization has become a core driver of improving energy operational efficiency. Against this background, exploring the synergistic effect of delayed retirement and digitalization on energy efficiency is critical for advancing China’s low-carbon transition and safeguarding energy security. This paper proposes a D3 (Demography–Digitalization–Decarbonization) framework to investigate how demographic change and digitalization jointly drive operational energy efficiency gains across key energy-intensive sectors.