Impacts of different low-carbon development pathways on water consumption in China based on input-output analysis

• Published in: Energy procedia 2017-01, Vol.142, p.3122-3128
• Main Authors: Ding, Xin, Wang, Saige, Chen, Bin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate change; Input-output analysis; Low-carbon scenario; Water management
• ISSN: 1876-6102; 1876-6102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.12.454

Low-carbon development will have impacts on economic activities’ water use by controlling energy consumption and adjusting energy structure. To analyze the impacts of different low-carbon development pathways on water consumption, we extended the input-output analysis (IOA) to future low-carbon development scenarios in China. Five low-carbon development scenarios for 2050, planned for climate change mitigation targets, had been adopted to analyze their impacts on sectoral water consumption. The sectoral direct and indirect energy/water consumption were inventoried for different scenarios. Then, energy and water consumption embodied in economic trade had been investigated via IOA under different scenarios. The results showed that Metal smelting and pressing sector is the largest consumer for embodied energy and water, it could be the key sectors to reduce energy and water consumption. Comparing different scenarios, we found that the indirect water consumption for the enhanced low-carbon scenario is highest, followed by the low-carbon scenarios and baseline scenario. The enhanced low-carbon scenario is the best scenario in terms of low-carbon development and water saving. By comparing sectoral energy and water consumption under different low-carbon development pathways, this research may provide insights for water resource management in future low-carbon planning.