Outsourcing natural resource requirements within China

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:228

Article

Zhang, Yaowen¹  Shao, Ling²  Sun, Xudong¹  Han, Mengyao³  Zhao, Xueli¹  Meng, Jing⁴  Zhang, Bo^1,5  Qiao, Han⁶ 

[1] China Univ Min & Technol Beijing, Sch Management, Beijing 100083, Peoples R China

[2] China Univ Geosci, Sch Econ & Management, Beijing 100083, Peoples R China

[3] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China

[4] Univ Cambridge, Dept Polit & Int Studies, Cambridge CB3 9DT, England

[5] Harvard Univ, Harvard China Project, Sch Engn & Appl Sci, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[6] Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Sch Econ & Management, Beijing 100190, Peoples R China

关键词: Embodied exergy;    Natural resource footprint;    Multi-regional input-output analysis;    Consumption-based accounting;    Chinese regions;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.107

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Consumption demands are final drivers for the extraction and allocation of natural resources. This paper investigates demand-driven natural resource requirements and spatial outsourcing within China in 2012 by using the latest multi-regional input-output model. Exergy is adopted as a common metric for natural resources input. The total domestic resource exergy requirements amounted to 125.5 EJ, of which the eastern area contributed the largest share of 44.5%, followed by the western area (23.9%), the central area (23.0%) and the northeastern area (8.6%). Investment was the leading final demand category, accounting for 52.9% (66.4 EJ) of national total embodied resource use (ERU). The total trade volumes of embodied resource were equivalent to 69.6% of the total direct resource input (DRI), mostly transferred from the central and western regions such as Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Xinjiang to the eastern regions such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Shanghai. The northeastern and eastern areas had physical net imports of 1213.5 PJ and 38452.6 PJ, while the central and western inland areas had physical net exports of 6364.5 PJ and 33301.5 PJ, respectively. Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong had prominent ERUs which respectively were 101.6, 12.6, 11.7, 8.4 and 4.3 times of their DRIs. The ERUs of Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia and Guizhou were equal to only 17.6%, 25.3%, 27.9%, 46.0% and 50.2% of their DRIs, respectively. Regional uneven development resulted in imbalanced resource requirements across China. The findings can provide a deep understanding of China's resource-driven economic development mode, and contribute to reducing regional resource footprints and their environment outcomes under the new normal economy.

【 授权许可】

Free