Evolution Of Global Embodied Energy Flow Patterns Based On Input-Output Network

Embodied energy is the direct and indirect energy inputs embodied in the production of goods and services.The exchanges of goods and services between entities give rise to the embodied energy flow,and its direction,distribution,and structure form the basic embodied energy flow pattern.This paper systematically investigates the evolution of global embodied energy flow pattern from inter country-industry,international,inter-industry,and the embodied energy flow within the economies along One Belt One Road(BRI),within BRICS,and that within G7.Eora global input-output tables record the exchanges of goods and services between entities.Based on the Eora global input-output data from 1992 to 2013,this study applies systematic input-output model to calculate the embodied energy flow between economies-industries,between economies,and between industries.Then,the economy-industry network,the economy network,and the industry network for global embodied energy flow are constructed,in which the economies-industries,economies,and industries are set as nodes respectively,the embodied energy flow connections are set as edges,and the volume of embodied energy flow as the weights of the edges.Using the economy-industry network for global embodied energy flow and the data of embodied energy flow between economies-industries,this paper finds that the direction of global inter economies-industries changes from the inter-industries within the United States to that within the mainland of China.Scale effect,structure effect,and technical effect are the main reasons for this change.Secondly,few key links carrying the major embodied energy flow for inter economies-industries.Thirdly,embodied energy flow connections between economies-industries within Europe,NAFTA,Southeast Asia,Africa are close,to which the geographic factor contributes.Using the economy network for global embodied energy flow and the data of embodied energy flow between countries,this paper finds that mainland of China,United States,Germany,Russia,and South Korea are the top 5 exporters of embodied energy,while United States,mainland of China,Germany,Japan,and United Kingdom are the top 5 importers.From 1992 to 2013,the center of global embodied energy flow between countries changes from America-Europe to China-America.Secondly,the embodied energy trade of the top 10 countries accounts for 54% of global embodied energy trade.Using the industry network for global embodied energy flow and the data of embodied energy flow between industries,this paper finds that the pattern of global embodied energy flow between industries keep stable after 1997,which centralize the intra-chemical and non-metallic industry.The self-loop within mining,agriculture,and textiles are replaced by that within heavy industries.Selecting BRI,BRICS,and G7 as the critical region and using the embodied energy flow data from 2006 to 2013,this paper finds that the inter-industries embodied energy flow within mainland of China is the most important flow path.There are three centers in the BRI embodied energy flow network,that is,east Asian centralizes around mainland of China,central-Asian and east Europe centralizes around Russia,and southeast Asian centralizes around Singapore.