Ecological Footprint Analysis Applied to a Coal‐Consumption County in China

Abstract

Sustainable development is a critical issue in developing countries, especially for some regions whose economy depends greatly on non‐renewable resources. The ecological footprint is a measured area‐based indicator to analyze the sustainable use of natural resources. It has been widely used to evaluate whether the natural ecosystem's carrying capacity in a region could support its development. In this study, the method was utilized to determine the per capita ecological footprint, biocapacity and related indices for Shenmu County. Results showed that the ecological deficit was 20.075 ha/capita (cap) in 2009, indicating that Shenmu County was practicing unsustainable development, both socially and economically, and was over‐exploiting its natural resources and the environment. The ecological deficit worsened between 2004, when it was “overloading” (1.978 ha/cap), and 2009, when it was “seriously overloading” (20.075 ha/cap); this was linked to increases in the ecological footprint. The main reason for the ecological deficits was the large energy consumption of industrial production. Most coal consumption was used to produce coke, and coke output thus had that greatest impact on deficits as indicated by stepwise multiple linear regression. In order to decrease ecological deficits, attention should focus on the development of alternative energy sources or technology. Improving and changing land use and energy‐consumption patterns to create a resource‐saving approach would result in steady increases in resource conservation leading to sustainable consumption that will improve the future ecological environment of Shenmu County.