Resources Science ›› 2016, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (10): 1914-1924.doi: 10.18402/resci.2016.10.09

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Changes and mechanism of internal water use of products in Tianjin

LIU Yawen1, ZHAO Xu2, LIU Junguo1, 3   

  1. 1. School of Nature Conservation,Beijing Forestry University,Beijing 100083,China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes,Ministry of Education,College of Environment,Hohai University,Nanjing 210098,China;
    3. School of Environmental Science and Engineering,South University of Science and Technology of China,Shenzhen 518055,China
  • Received:2016-02-29 Revised:2016-05-26 Online:2016-10-25 Published:2016-10-25

Abstract: Here,we introduce an indicator attached to the virtual water concept termed the internal water use of products (IWUP) to examine direct and indirect water use from local water supply for goods and services in Tianjin for the years 2002,2005,2007 and 2012. The indicator reflects the impact of final demand conditions and product supply chains on local water resources. An environmental input-output analysis technology was used to calculate Tianjin’s IWUP. The driving forces of its changes were studied with structural decomposition analysis (SDA),and its driving mechanism analysis on the social and economic aspects explored. We found that the IWUP of Tianjin increased by 6% (110 million m3)from 2002 to 2012. The effect of per capita final demand volume change is the main driving factor to the increasing IWUP. Whilst the effect of final demand structural change is the principal contributor offsetting IWUP increase. From the point of industrial sectors,which include three categories of agricultural,industrial and service sectors,we find that the agricultural sector has the largest IWUP,but the increase in IWUP is mainly due to expansion of the industrial sector. At the end of this paper we provide some feasible suggestions to save Tianjin’s local water resource and alleviate water pressure. They include reducing exports with high water intensity,improving water use efficiency of export industries,advocating local residents to change consumption patterns,and including water related indicators such as IWUP and water footprint into the green accounting systems of enterprises.

Key words: driving force analysis, input-output analysis, internal water use of products, structural decomposition model, Tianjin City