Abstract
•An exergy-based systems account of China’s resource utilization is carried out.•A system diagram is devised to visually depict societal exergy utilization in 2012.•Resource-driven social development and serious exergy dissipation are identified.•Sectoral resource use structure and efficiency haven’t improved in recent decade.•China’s resource performance was inferior to those of industrialized societies.
Resource input is the prerequisite to maintain the operation of socio-economic systems. Exergy analysis provides a wide and clear vision of the use and degradation of natural resources, with essential implications to sustainability. This paper aims to perform an exergy-based system account of the resource utilization in China, one of the most complex societies around the world. An overall systems diagram with seven independent and complimentary social departments is designed to illustrate the clear-cut processes of resource use and exergy destruction and loss. The national total input of resource exergy in 2012 reached 158.11 EJ, with the net input of 155.87 EJ. Its per capita resource consumption increased to 111.95 GJ, compared with 51.5 GJ in 2003. Industry accounted for 26.3% of the total resource exergy consumption, followed by Conversion 23.2%, Household 18.3%, Agriculture 10.2%, Tertiary 10.0%, Exaction 6.7% and Transportation 5.3%. The sectoral conversion coefficients of resource exergy were estimated as 91.92% for Extraction, 34.58% for Conversion, 29.75% for Agriculture, 32.18% for Industry, 18.46% for Transportation, 34.28% for Tertiary and only 1.28% for Household. The structure and efficiencies of resource exergy use of the Chinese society haven’t witnessed a prominent improvement in the recent decade, and its resource utilization performance was still inferior to those of some industrialized societies. Exergy-based unified accounting for a benchmark year provides solid foundation for resource policy formation and can serve as the tool for identifying resource footprint and sustainable development mode.