Based on analyzing the relationship between energy consumption and economic development from 1990 to 2008,the decoupling threshold and its potential were estimated by using IPAT model. The resuits showed that:(1) the spatial convergence of the inter-provincial energy consumption intensity was evident,but there were significant differences of the decoupling potential; (2) there was a great impact of regional development on decoupling potential and it was an important way to encourage and guide the cooperation by using energy consumption int...