Exploring energy flows embodied in China's economy from the regional and sectoral perspectives via combination of multi-regional input–output analysis and a complex network approach

Miaohan Tang, Jingke Hong, Guiwen Liu and Geoffrey Qiping Shen

Energy, 2019, vol. 170, issue C, 1191-1201

Abstract: Rapid urbanization has produced considerable energy demands in China and increased pressure on sustainable development. Therefore, investigating the embodied energy flows induced by China's modern economy is important. By integrating the multi-regional input–output (MRIO) model with the complex network approach, this study builds two embodied energy flow networks (EEFNs) from the regional and sectoral perspectives. The small-world nature is explored in the current EEFN by assessing the average clustering coefficient and average path length. Findings indicate that any disturbance occurring in key nodes or flows can generate substantial effects on the whole embodied energy system. From a regional perspective, Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang consistently rank highest in terms of centrality indices. From a sectoral perspective, the chemical industry, the smelting and pressing of metals, the transportation, storage, posts and telecommunications, and the manufacture of general and special purpose machinery are highly connected sectors in the EEFN. Community detection further reveals an apparent separation of amounts existing among communities. Heterogeneous effects within communities are also observed. Provinces located in the western and central areas of China act as energy suppliers to promote economic development in the eastern area. Economic cooperation organizations, when taken as a whole, exert more apparent influences on the embodied energy trade system. From a sectoral perspective, the embodied energy use of sectors in each community displays remarkable clustering features. The findings of this study can help formulate fair and reasonable energy-saving policies for suppliers and consumers from the regional and sectoral perspectives.

Keywords: Embodied energy flows; Multi-regional input–output model; Complex network; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544218325386
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:170:y:2019:i:c:p:1191-1201

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.164

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().