Unraveling the Surrounding Drivers of Interprovincial Trade Embodied Energy Flow Based on the MRIO Model: A Case Study in China

Wen Wen, Yijing He, Yang Zhang, Weize Song () and Yujuan Fang
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Wen Wen: School of Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Yijing He: School of Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Yang Zhang: School of Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Weize Song: Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100080, China
Yujuan Fang: Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100080, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-30

Abstract: To achieve the carbon neutrality target, China has proposed “dual control” policies on provincial energy consumption. However, inter-provincial trade drives significant embodied energy flows beyond local demand. How do we identify key energy consumers driving through other provinces? And how does energy, especially from coal, flow to other provinces? Current studies analyzed regional and sectoral energy flow, which are always separated. And seldom was attention paid to coal flow. Intending to identify the critical energy-consuming province in China and investigate how energy and coal flow out from it, this study applied the EE-MRIO model to measure energy and coal embodied in provincial trades. The results suggest the following: (1) The energy embodied in provincial trade was mostly from energy-rich regions to provinces that lacked energy but had developed economies. Shanxi is a critical embodied-energy export province; (2) neighboring provinces and economically developed provinces drive the most embodied energy from Shanxi, and embodied energy mainly flows from the energy sectors and high-energy-intensity sectors; and (3) the provincial and sectoral coal flow in Shanxi presents consistent characteristics of embodied energy flow. We contributed to understanding the energy equity affected by embodied energy flow and propose energy consumption as a relieving measure.

Keywords: embodied energy; embodied coal; Shanxi; multi-regional-input-output (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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