The Provincial Carbon Footprint and Trade

Abstract

Based on the data of provincial input-output model and the carbon footprint model, the analysis is focused on provincial carbon footprint and the space transfer of carbon emissions. The results have shown that: (1) There are significant differences of provincial total carbon footprint amounts: resource-rich provinces have high total carbon footprint amounts, followed by processing and manufacturing provinces and municipalities; Regions with high energy efficiency have low carbon footprint amounts, so does southwestern region where economic and industrial development level is relatively low. (2) The provincial differences of carbon footprint per capita are related to demand structure: the amounts of carbon footprint are high in provinces with higher demand of consumption and investment, especially those provinces with strong demand for construction and processing industries. The amounts of carbon footprint are low in provinces which are non-resource-based, have limited investment and construction, and its economic structure is not dominated by processing and manufacturing. (3) Interprovincial trades have a significant impact on carbon footprint and carbon emissions. Provinces with well developed infrastructure have net CO2 emissions flow-in that are directly induced by high energy consumption products; southwestern region, where processing and manufacturing industry is relatively less-developed, has main CO2 emission flow-in, which are induced by the demand of processing and manufacturing industries; resource-intensive provinces and provinces with well-developed processing and manufacturing industries have net CO2 emission flow-out, which are induced by interprovincial trades.