Abstract
Water footprint has become a common method to study the water resources utilization in recent years. By using input–output analysis and dilution theory, the internal water footprint, blue water footprint and grey water footprint of China from 2002 to 2012 were estimated, and the consumption structure of water footprint and virtual water trade were analyzed. The results show: (1) From 2002 to 2012, the average annual internal water footprint was 3.83 trillion m3 in China, of which the blue water footprint was 0.25 trillion m3, and the grey water footprint was 3.58 trillion m3 (with Grade III water standard accounting); both the internal water footprint and grey water footprint experienced decreasing trends from 2002 to 2012, except for a dramatic increase in 2010; (2) Average annual virtual blue water footprint was the greatest in agriculture (39.2%), while tertiary industry (27.5%) and food and tobacco processing (23.7%) were the top two highest for average annual virtual grey water footprint; (3) Virtual blue water footprint in most sectors showed increasing trends due to the increase of final demand, while virtual grey water footprint in most sectors showed decreasing trends due to the decreases of total return water coefficients and conversion coefficients of virtual grey water footprint; (4) For water resources, China was self-reliant: the water used for producing the products and services to meet domestic consumption was taken domestically; meanwhile, China exported virtual water to other countries, which aggravated the water stress in China.
Highlights
Water footprint refers to the water consumption for producing products and services for a certain population under certain material living standards [1]
This part of water resources includes the actual water used in daily life, water used for industrial and agricultural goods production, and municipal water, and the water used for processing sewage and waste water that is produced during the life and production activities
This study focused on blue water footprint and grey water, but excluded green water footprint, because input–output analysis is sector-based, but green water footprint is always calculated based on the evapotranspiration of a specific crop; it is hard to determine which crops should be included in the calculation of agriculture
Summary
Water footprint refers to the water consumption for producing products and services for a certain population (individual, city or country) under certain material living standards [1]. The concept of water footprint is a combination of physical and virtual water consumption, a combination of the consumption of “blue water” (surface water and groundwater) and “green water” (precipitation which does not form surface water, groundwater and is reserved in soil) [2], and a combination of changes in water quantity and quality. It shows the impact of human consumption on water resources from a broader view. Hoekstra and Chapagain carried out a systematic estimation of water footprint in
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