Driving factors of water-energy nexus in China

Abstract

Water and energy are intertwined during their production and consumption processes. Static assessments and simulations of the water-energy nexus among production and consumption are important for determining the mechanism behind the nexus; however, dynamic studies can help determine the most important factors that influence the development of the water-energy nexus, which can provide new insights for shaping energy and water synergetic management. Thus, we probed the driving factors of the water-energy nexus in China through structural decomposition analysis from 1990 to 2014 and decomposed the water consumption of different consumers into six energy related factors: the water-energy nexus coefficient, the energy intensity, the production structure, the consumption volume per capita of final consumers, consumption patterns, and the population. The results showed that the consumption volume, which indicates the consumption levels of different consumers, contributed 156% of the increase of the total energy related water consumption in 2014 compared with that in 1990. Additionally, the energy intensity is the most important driving factor that can reduce the total water consumption of all consumers (household, government, gross fixed capital format, etc.), accounting for −271% of the water consumption in 2014. The consumption patterns, i.e., expenditures on various products in different sectors, also show positive impacts on water consumption conservation for the gross fixed capital format and government, although they can aggravate the water consumption in households. The investigation of the driving forces for different consumers also shows that prosperity in the real estate industry and other related industries has indirectly driven more water flow into gross fixed capital investments and the government, which negatively affects the sustainable water consumption goal in China.