Can water conservation and energy conservation be promoted simultaneously in China?

Jijie Shen, Peng Yi, Xumin Zhang, Yuantao Yang, Jinzhu Fang and Yuanying Chi

Energy, 2023, vol. 278, issue PA

Abstract: Understanding the water-energy (WE) nexus is crucial for addressing water scarcity and high energy consumption issues in China. However, few studies have analyzed the WE nexus and the drivers of the spatiotemporal changes. To fill in this gap, we quantified the provincial energy, water-related energy, water, and energy-related water footprints (EF, EFwat, WF, and WFene, respectively) in China during 2002–2017 based on a multiregional input-output model, and analyzed the drivers underlying their changes. Results showed that Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Energy supply were dominant sectors in the WE nexus, showing 371.9 billion m3 (bm3) of WF, 16.3 trillion kWh (TkWh) of EF, and 0.2 TkWh of EFwat on average, respectively. Structural adjustment and key technological advances reduced WF by 272.6 and 265.4 bm3, and EF by 4.3 and 2.8 TkWh, respectively, but they resulted in −0.1 and −0.023 TkWh of WFene, and −2.3 and 10.2 bm3 of EFwat, respectively. Final demand and resource consumption intensity effects were respectively the main accelerator and suppressor of resource footprints during 2002–2017. Upgrading industrial chains and phasing out backward production capacity could promote water and energy conservation simultaneously. This study provides a scientific basis for comprehensive policymaking toward sustainable water and energy management.

Keywords: Water-energy nexus; Multiregional input-output model; Structural decomposition analysis; Water footprint; Energy footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544223012872
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:278:y:2023:i:pa:s0360544223012872

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.127893

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 ().