How to guide a sustainable industrial economy: Emergy account for resources input of Chinese industry

Emergy analysis provides a feasible approach to evaluate the status and position of different energy carriers in the universal energy hierarchy. In this paper, an emergy-based method is conducted to measure the resources input of Chinese industry from 1997 to 2006. Resources inflows including fossil fuels, mineral resources, agricultural products, and other imported materials are accounted, based on which related indicators including resources intensity, industrial output, and environmental emissions are investigated. Results show a steady upward trend for the total resources input of Chinese industry during the past decade. The total resources input amounted to 1.53×1025 sej in 2006, of which non-renewable one accounted for 70.65% owing to the dominating input of fossil fuels and nonmetal minerals. Resources intensity measured by the ratio of resources input to industrial value added declined gradually during 1997–2002, but the rapid expansion of resource–intensive sub–sectors resulted in a reverse trend since 2003. The current resources use pattern of Chinese industry is characterized by increasing input of non-renewable resources, excessive expansion of resource–intensive production, and tremendous challenge from environmental pressure