Embodied Energy Account of Chinese Economy 2002

Abstract

In this research, input-output (I-O) model was used to calculate the embodied (direct plus indirect) energy consumption of the Chinese 42 major sectors based on the estimation of the direct energy inputs to the Chinese economy in 2002. Several indicators, involving the embodied energy intensity, imported energy dependent index, and energy balance of trade, were provided to analyze the energy basement of the current Chinese industry. This study also explored the Chinese energy use structure for the added value and final use in 2002, and investigated the disparity in energy use between the rural consumption and the urban consumption. The cluster analysis was employed to group these sectors according to their similarities in embodied energy intensity, imported energy dependency, and energy use structure of final use. Conclusion shows that the energy industries held the highest energy intensities in China while most light industrial sectors, hi-tech sectors and various service sectors enjoyed the lowest energy intensities. And the petroleum associated sectors are most in degree for the imported-energy dependency in 2002, as a great contrast to the coal-associated industries. This was further explored through the Chinese energy balance of trade in 2002, which reveals that the oil consumed sectors encountered serious embodied energy deficits, but the sectors with coal as major fuel held embodied energy surplus.