IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v72y2025icp78-88.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identification of key paths for embodied carbon emissions in China based on a five-dimensional analysis model

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zhenjun
  • Chen, Weiming

Abstract

China proposed the "double carbon goals" in 2020. carbon emissions reduction has become a crucial aspect in China's economic development process. Faced with significant differences in regional carbon emissions, and complex inter-industry linkages, it is necessary to break down the carbon emission paths along the supply chain from multiple dimensions. Based on the input-output-structure path analysis model, we constructed a five-dimensional analysis model, aiming to thoroughly clarify China's inter-regional and inter-industry carbon emission relations. The results show that from 1997 to 2017, carbon emissions driven by urban household consumption have increased from 579.48 Mt to 3302.71 Mt. Transportation warehousing and other services have driven upstream to generate lots of carbon emissions. The largest emission path is generated by the electric heat and water supply industry in Shandong, meeting the consumption of urban residents. Carbon emissions generated by electric heat and water supply industry in Shanxi and Shandong should be focused.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhenjun & Chen, Weiming, 2025. "Identification of key paths for embodied carbon emissions in China based on a five-dimensional analysis model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 78-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:72:y:2025:i:c:p:78-88
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2024.11.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X24001668
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2024.11.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Duo & Liu, Gengyuan & Meng, Fanxin & Yan, Ningyu & Li, Hui & Agostinho, Feni & Almeida, Cecilia MVB & Giannetti, Biagio F, 2023. "Sector aggregation effect on embodied carbon emission based on city-centric global multi-region input-output (CCG-MRIO) model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 484(C).
    2. Castaño, Andrés & Lufin, Marcelo & Atienza, Miguel, 2019. "A structural path analysis of Chilean mining linkages between 1995 and 2011. What are the channels through which extractive activity affects the economy?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 106-117.
    3. Wang, Zhaohua & Li, Yiming & Cai, Hailin & Yang, Yuantao & Wang, Bo, 2019. "Regional difference and drivers in China's carbon emissions embodied in internal trade," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 217-228.
    4. Liu, Hongguang & Liu, Weidong & Fan, Xiaomei & Zou, Wei, 2015. "Carbon emissions embodied in demand–supply chains in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 294-305.
    5. Zhiyong Yang & Wenjie Dong & Jinfeng Xiu & Rufeng Dai & Jieming Chou, 2015. "Structural Path Analysis of Fossil Fuel Based CO2 Emissions: A Case Study for China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Llop, Maria & Ponce-Alifonso, Xavier, 2015. "Identifying the role of final consumption in structural path analysis: An application to water uses," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 203-210.
    7. Defourny, Jacques & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "Structural Path Analysis and Multiplier Decomposition within a Social Accounting Matrix Framework," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(373), pages 111-136, March.
    8. López, Luis Antonio & Arce, Guadalupe & Jiang, Xuemei, 2020. "Mapping China's flows of emissions in the world's carbon footprint: A network approach of production layers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Zhifu Mi & Jiali Zheng & Jing Meng & Jiamin Ou & Klaus Hubacek & Zhu Liu & D’Maris Coffman & Nicholas Stern & Sai Liang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2020. "Economic development and converging household carbon footprints in China," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 529-537, July.
    10. Hong, Jingke & Shen, Qiping & Xue, Fan, 2016. "A multi-regional structural path analysis of the energy supply chain in China's construction industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 56-68.
    11. Wen, Wen & Feng, Cuiyang & Zhou, Hao & Zhang, Li & Wu, Xiaohui & Qi, Jianchuan & Yang, Xuechun & Liang, Yuhan, 2021. "Critical provincial transmission sectors for carbon dioxide emissions in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. Lei, Qiu & Huang, Weiyun & Zhao, Fang & Sarwar, Saima & Chaudhary, Muhammad Gulzaib, 2023. "The importance of public sector size and resources volatility in carbon emissions: Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    13. Hao Chen & Erdan Wang & Nuo Wang & Tao Song, 2023. "Research on Embodied Carbon Transfer Measurement and Carbon Compensation among Regions in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-20, February.
    14. Chen, Weiming & Zhang, Zhenjun & Chen, Kaiyuan, 2023. "Inter-regional economic-environmental correlation effects of power sector in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    15. Yang, Lisha & Lin, Boqiang, 2016. "Carbon dioxide-emission in China׳s power industry: Evidence and policy implications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 258-267.
    16. Chen, Weiming & Lei, Yalin & Feng, Kuishuang & Wu, Sanmang & Li, Li, 2019. "Provincial emission accounting for CO2 mitigation in China: Insights from production, consumption and income perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    17. Zhang, Zengkai & Guo, Ju'e & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2014. "The effects of direct trade within China on regional and national CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 161-175.
    18. Zhong, Sheng & Goh, Tian & Su, Bin, 2022. "Patterns and drivers of embodied carbon intensity in international exports: The role of trade and environmental policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    19. Shao, Ling & Li, Yuan & Feng, Kuishuang & Meng, Jing & Shan, Yuli & Guan, Dabo, 2018. "Carbon emission imbalances and the structural paths of Chinese regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 396-404.
    20. Lenzen, Manfred, 2007. "Structural path analysis of ecosystem networks," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 200(3), pages 334-342.
    21. Wang, Saige & Cao, Tao & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Identifying critical sectors and supply chain paths for virtual water and energy-related water trade in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    22. Fang, Delin & Duan, Cuncun & Chen, Bin, 2020. "Average propagation length analysis for carbon emissions in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Yingzhu & Su, Bin, 2024. "Identification of the bias in embodied emissions flows and their sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Bu, Yan & Wang, Erda & Möst, Dominik & Lieberwirth, Martin, 2022. "How population migration affects carbon emissions in China: Factual and counterfactual scenario analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Guan, Shihui & Han, Mengyao & Wu, Xiaofang & Guan, ChengHe & Zhang, Bo, 2019. "Exploring energy-water-land nexus in national supply chains: China 2012," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1225-1234.
    4. Wei Yang & Junnian Song, 2019. "Depicting Flows of Embodied Water Pollutant Discharge within Production System: Case of an Undeveloped Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Zhang, Bo & Qu, Xue & Meng, Jing & Sun, Xudong, 2017. "Identifying primary energy requirements in structural path analysis: A case study of China 2012," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 425-435.
    6. Teng, Yuqiang & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "The energy-saving effect of industrial chain synergistic division: Evidence from China's industrial chain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    7. Wang, Saige & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Unraveling energy–water nexus paths in urban agglomeration: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    8. Shi, Jianglan & Li, Chao & Li, Huajiao, 2022. "Energy consumption in China's ICT sectors: From the embodied energy perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    9. Xuesong Dong & Jianbai Huang & Jinyu Chen, 2025. "Driving factors and key paths of metal consumption in China: Evidence from structural decomposition and structural path analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 9357-9377, April.
    10. Chang K. Seung & Do-Hoon Kim, 2020. "Examining Supply Chain for Seafood Industries Using Structural Path Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Jingke, Hong & Chenyu, Wang & Chang-Richards, Alice & Jingxiao, Zhang & Qiping, Geoffrey Shen & Bei, Qiao, 2022. "A spatiotemporal analysis of energy use pathways in the construction industry: A study of China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    12. Xu, Dongxiao & Zhang, Yan & Chen, Bin & Bai, Junhong & Liu, Gengyuan & Zhang, Boyu, 2022. "Identifying the critical paths and sectors for carbon transfers driven by global consumption in 2015," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Teng, Yuqiang, 2022. "Structural path and decomposition analysis of sectoral carbon emission changes in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    14. Li, Yingzhu & Su, Bin & Dasgupta, Shyamasree, 2018. "Structural path analysis of India's carbon emissions using input-output and social accounting matrix frameworks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 457-469.
    15. Wang, Saige & Cao, Tao & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Identifying critical sectors and supply chain paths for virtual water and energy-related water trade in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    16. Wang, Zhen & Wei, Liyuan & Niu, Beibei & Liu, Yong & Bin, Guoshu, 2017. "Controlling embedded carbon emissions of sectors along the supply chains: A perspective of the power-of-pull approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1544-1551.
    17. Sun, Xudong & Li, Jiashuo & Qiao, Han & Zhang, Bo, 2017. "Energy implications of China's regional development: New insights from multi-regional input-output analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 118-131.
    18. Liu, Lan-Cui & Cheng, Lei & Zhao, Lu-Tao & Cao, Ying & Wang, Ce, 2020. "Investigating the significant variation of coal consumption in China in 2002-2017," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    19. Chen, Zhenni & Liu, Xi & Li, Jianglong, 2022. "Identifying channels of environmental impacts of transport sector through sectoral linkage analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    20. Lin, Boqiang & Teng, Yuqiang, 2023. "The effect of industrial synergy and division on energy intensity: From the perspective of industrial chain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:72:y:2025:i:c:p:78-88. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.