To improve the energy yield (EY) of plasma volatile organic compound decomposition, a dielectric barrier discharge plasma driven by pulse-modulated AC power was used to experimentally study the abatement of benzene in atmospheric pressure air and at room temperature. The effects of the duty cycle on decomposition efficiency, EY, CO2 selectivity and the formation of ozone and NO2 were investigated. The results show that applying pulse modulation improves the EY and the CO2 selectivity and greatly reduces the wall temperature of the reaction chamber.