Applying input-output analysis to scenario analysis of ecological footprints

Application of input-output analysis to ecological footprints (EFs) is shifting from an ex-post static calculation toward an ex-ante scenario analysis for enhancing the policy relevance of EF analysis. This change in application prompts two issues requiring careful examination: (1) what is measured by Leontief inverses or extended environmental Leontief inverses, and (2) whether a sector's land multiplier (or compositions of land multiplier) can appropriately reflect the effect of delivering one unit of the sector's output to final demand on the required area(s) of production lands used by the sector itself and by other producing sectors whose products are contributed directly and indirectly to its production. The underlying message of these two questions is whether the assumed linear marginal relationship between a sector's output and its intermediate inputs (input-output coefficients)—a critical assumption made by W. Leontief to transform a transactions table from an accounting framework into the input-output model—can be extended to assume that the marginal relationship between a sector's output and the area of production land it uses for generating output is fixed (land-output marginal coefficient equal to average coefficient). By reviewing the literature on input-output analysis and its application to environmental issues and by theoretically and empirically examining the relation between sector output and land appropriation, this study advises against the use of land multipliers or their compositions in the EF scenario analysis.To apply the input-output model to EF scenario analysis for enhancing policy relevance with due attention to the relationship between sector output and land appropriation, this study suggests a two-stage EF calculation procedure. In the first stage, the input-output application estimates only the required raw materials (or generated pollutants) for meeting a given consumption pattern, which is the objective of environmental input-output analysis; in the second stage, the estimated amount of raw materials or pollutants is converted into land/water area, and a choice of conversion methods is suggested according to the research questions and the availability of conversion methods and required data.     

Spatial Welfare Economics Versus Ecological Footprint: A Sensitivity Analysis Introducing Strong Sustainability

The aim of this paper is a sensitivity analysis with the core-periphery model of ‘new economic geography’ put forward in Grazi et al. (Environ Resour Econ 38:135–153, 2007). This model comprises interregional trade, agglomeration advantages and resource (land) use or environmental externalities. Grazi et al. (2007, GBR) compare a social welfare (SW) indicator with the ecological footprint (EF) indicator for measuring spatial sustainability of a set of land use configurations. Their main result is that the SW and the EF indicator can yield completely different rankings and only for extreme parameterizations of environmental externalities the rankings coincide. We adapt the model by interpreting total natural land as a resource constraint and differentiate between weak and strong sustainability. In a sensitivity analysis we show that the main results of GBR (2007) correspond to the case of weak sustainability in our adapted model version. In the case of strong sustainability our adapted model version shows the same welfare rankings for both indicators without the extreme parameterization that is necessary to obtain the same results in the original GBR (2007) model.     

Evaluating the effects of embodied energy in international trade on ecological footprint in China

Based on sub-sectoral level of economy and detailed traded items, embodied energy (EE) in international trade flow in China is estimated during 1996-2004, and the effects of EE on sustainability are quantified by using one of the most popular indicators—Ecological footprint (EF). A framework of EF method, which is more relevant to realism of specific country, is proposed in this paper. The results show that China is a net importer of EE during the period covered by this study except for the year from 1997 to 1999. Imported, Exported and Net imported EE tends to increase sharply along time series. Net imported energy would increase 38% and energy consumption would increase 2.8% in 2004 if EE were taken into account. Footprint_energy is the most important part of EF components and is significantly affected by EE, and the effects of EE on EF are similar to that of Footprint_energy. Footprint_energy, EF and ecological deficit of 2004 will be underestimated about 2.92%, 1.36%, 2.83%, res pectively, if EE is not taken into the national energy budget. Continuous increase of EF and ecological deficit along time series indicates that China is moving away from sustainability. 1.47 times Chinese territories are accurately occupied by China in 1996 while 1.71 times in 2004. Obviously unsustainability procedure of China is accelerated by EE. The contribution of EE to EF and ecological deficit is small in absolute terms expressed in per capita, but the effects on whole nation are huge if the population of China multiplies them. To curb the increase of EF and ecological deficit and to achieve the goal of sustainability, some policy and measures are also proposed.     

Beyond “more is better”: Ecological footprint accounting for tourism and consumption in Val di Merse,Italy

Habits of conservation, consumption and recycling are important determinants of economic throughput. Provincial governments interested in tourism's role in a diverse, steady-state economy may wish to orient tourism development around the tourist segments with less intensive consumption habits. We estimate consumption of energy and materials by tourists vacationing in Val di Merse, a rural region of Tuscany, Italy. We compare tourists and their host population by means of a consumption based indicator, the Ecological Footprint. Conclusions for planning and management are explored. While the average tourist is often thought to consume more on vacation than at home, and often more than local residents, our estimate of the tourist footprint as an equivalent resident (5.28 gha) is similar to that estimated for residents (5.47 gha), excluding arrival transport. In total, the tourist population (685 equivalent residents) in Val di Merse contributes an ecological footprint of 13,500 gha annually, compared to 74,500 gha due to local residents (pop. 13,624). Both levels are lower than the average 6.74 EF estimated for the tourist countries of origin. Arrival transport contributes an additional 32.8 gha per tourist equivalent resident, and accounts for 86% of the total tourism impact. Infrastructure, information provided, and traditional knowledge are discussed as possible ways Provincial governments can maintain or grow tourism flows while maintaining low ecological footprint, and while raising economic turnover relative to material and energy throughput.     

Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis

The water footprint concept introduced in 2002 is an analogue of the ecological footprint concept originating from the 1990s. Whereas the ecological footprint (EF) denotes the bioproductive area (hectares) needed to sustain a population, the water footprint (WF) represents the freshwater volume (cubic metres per year) required. In elaborating the WF concept into a well-defined quantifiable indicator, a number of methodological issues have been addressed, with many similarities to the methodological concerns in EF analysis. The methodology followed in WF studies is in most cases analogous to the methodology taken in EF studies, but deviates at some points. Well-reasoned it has been chosen for instance to specifically take into account the source and production circumstances of products and assess the actual water use involved, thus not taking global averages. As a result one can exactly localise the spatial distribution of a water footprint of a country. With respect to the outcome of the footprint estimates, one can see both similarities and striking differences. Food consumption for instance contributes significantly to both the EF and the WF, but mobility (and associated energy use) is very important only for the EF. From a sustainability perspective, the WF of a country tells another story and thus at times will put particular development strategies in a different perspective. The paper reviews and compares the methodologies in EF and WF studies, compares nation's footprint estimates and suggests how the two concepts can be interpreted in relation to one another. The key conclusion is that the two concepts are to be regarded as complementary in the sustainability debate.     

基于生态足迹视角的建设用地节约集约利用分析——以重庆市为例

研究目的：将生态足迹理论运用到建设用地的节约集约利用评价之中,完善节约集约利用评价指标体系。研究方法：时间序列法、文献资料法、计量模型法、逻辑分析法。研究结果：2002～2007年间,重庆市非农人口人均建设用地生态足迹增加了0.636854hm2,二三产业万元GDP生态足迹下降了0.032070hm2,单位面积建设用地生态足迹增加了34.379060hm2。研究结论：（1）重庆市二三产业的发展对生态环境的压力有减小的趋势,能源资源的利用效率得到提高。（2）二三产业总生态足迹的增加速度远大于建设用地总面积的增加速度,也就是建设用地的增加引起了生态足迹（生态需求）更大的增加。（3）建设用地生态足迹的增加主要是由于非农人口消耗更多的能源和资源所导致。     

Exploring past and future changes in the ecological footprint for world regions

The Ecological Footprint (EF) has received considerable attention as a useful indicator in the context of sustainable development. So far, it has mostly been applied as a static indicator. Here, we have derived a set of long-term EF scenarios for 17 world regions using the IMAGE 2.2 implementation of the IPCCs SRES scenarios. The scenarios are used to discuss potential trends in EFs in different world regions but also to analyse underlying trends driving changes in the EF. The baseline scenarios show the EF for real land use only (not accounting for CO₂) to increase further in the next few decades in most world regions, being driven by population growth, changes in human diets towards more land-intensive products and overall increases in consumption levels. Future crop yield improvements and technology development will partly offset these trends, resulting in decreasing per capita EFs, but increasing total EFs. In the longer term, EF development may strongly diverge on the basis of assumptions made in the different baseline scenarios (from 5.4 Gha at present to 6.0–8.2 Gha in 2050 depending on the scenario). The aggregated EF following the definition of Wackernagel et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 99 (2002) 9266–9271) (including virtual land for CO₂) increases more strongly, from 12.6 to 20–31 Gha depending on the different scenarios. An alternative scenario was developed to explore whether optimistic assumptions for changes in consumption and production patterns could limit the increase of the global EF, which limited EF increase to 15 Gha in 2050. This scenario still allowed for population growth and strong economic development in low-income regions.     

Spatial welfare economics versus ecological footprint: modeling agglomeration,externalities and trade

A welfare framework for the analysis of the spatial dimensions of sustainability is developed. It covers agglomeration effects, interregional trade, negative environmental externalities, and various land use categories. The model is used to compare rankings of spatial configurations according to evaluations based on social welfare and ecological footprint indicators. Five spatial configurations are considered for this purpose. The exercise is operationalized with the help of a two-region model of the economy, that is, in line with the ‘new economic geography.’ By generating a number of numerical ‘counter-examples,’ it is shown that the footprint method is inconsistent with an approach aimed at maximum social welfare. Unless environmental externalities are such a large problem that they overwhelm all other components of economic well-being, a ‘spatial welfare economic’ approach delivers totally different rankings of alternative land use configurations than the ecological footprint.      

中国能源生态足迹与能源生态补偿的测度

本文从探求中国能源可持续消费出发,运用生态足迹模型,重点将中国29个行政区域化石能源消费的生态足迹进行了测度,并且进行了横向对比,生态赤字大小的顺序为东部〉中部〉西部。同时,以生态系统服务和生态足迹的理论和方法为基础,从国家宏观层面建立生态补偿的判定标准、量化模型。在此基础上以中国各省份为例,研究中国区域之间的生态补偿量化问题,建立这种补偿的理论基础并尝试确定补偿的标准。结果显示：有19个省市需要向其他地区支付一定的生态补偿。应支付生态补偿的地区多为东部沿海的经济发达地区。应接受补偿的地区多为较落后的中西部地区。建议国家建立生态补偿基金,协调区域生态服务与生态占用的矛盾。     

产品碳足迹及其国内外发展现状

气候变化已成为可持续发展的重要议题。低碳经济、低碳生活的号召下,产品生产及消费对环境的影响已渐渐引起人们的重视。产品碳足迹分析有助于企业真正了解产品对气候变化的影响,并由此采取可行的措施减少供应链中的碳排放。对碳足迹、产品碳足迹及产品碳足迹标识的相关概念进行介绍,分析国内、外有关产品碳足迹的发展现状和发展趋势。对社会普及碳足迹概念和引导更多中国企业实施产品碳足迹起到促进作用。     

基于改进生态足迹模型的耕地可持续利用研究———以怀来县为例

在总结以往生态足迹分析方法的基础上,提出了耕地可持续利用指数(CUSI),为定量评估耕地利用可持续发展状况提供了新的研究思路。以怀来县为例,研究结果表明:(1)1996～2008年间人均耕地生态足迹、生态足迹分别增加了0.0274hm2和0.1404hm2,耕地生态承载力则下降了0.1130hm2,耕地生态赤字增加说明耕地消耗量大于耕地供给量,耕地资源利用处于不可持续状况。耕地利用可持续程度由1996年的弱可持续阶段(0.01)向2008年的中等不可持续阶段(-0.31)发展。(2)通过对怀来县2011～2020年耕地生态足迹和生态承载力预测可知,到2020年该县人均耕地生态足迹、生态承载力分别为0.4821hm2、0.1387hm2,耕地生态赤字将达到0.3434hm2;CUSI为-0.55表明耕地利用处于强不可持续阶段,耕地保护形势不容乐观。     

Application of ecological footprint in ecological industrial systems：a study case of maize-MSG production systems

To improve the comparability of the research results of ecological industry, the ecological footprint is appliedto analyze the resource utilization and environmental pollution in various subsystems, taking maize-MSG as a case.Results show that the production process from maize to MSG is a extended process of ecological footprint, and that theecological footprint of the maize production is the biggest; the extension of ecological footprint is followed by the increaseof footprint profit, which means that the extension of production chain is an important method to improve the resourcesprofit; the systems have a big proportion of the indirect energy ecological footprint; the air and water pollution in MSGsubsystem is the most serious. At last, it can be identified that ecological footprint is a good method to measure resourceutilization and environmental pollution in various subsystems of an integrated ecological industry.     

基于生态足迹模型的区域生态经济发展持续性评估

生态足迹模型通过测度当今人类为了维持自身生存和发展而利用的生物生产性土地面积的数量,来定量地评估自身活动对地球生态系统的影响程度。文章介绍了生态足迹模型的提出背景和最新研究进展;阐释了其原理框架、基本概念及计算方法;以西北内陆地区的甘肃省(2002年)为例,对生态足迹模型在区域生态经济可持续发展评估中的应用进行了实证分析。计算结果表明,2002年甘肃省人均生态赤字为0.2883hm2,人类活动对自然生态系统的影响已经超出了当地生态承载力的限度,人地关系紧张。最后对生态足迹模型及其应用前景进行了合理评价。     

Does Ecological Footprint Impede Economic Growth? An Empirical Analysis Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis

This paper examines the relationship between income and environmental quality using environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The hypothesised link is tested using time‐series analysis of 22 countries over the period 1961–2011. The degree of environmental impacts of economic activity is measured using ecological footprint (EF) per capita as explanatory variable, while real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and its quadratic and cubic forms are used as predictor variables in these countries. First, the EKC hypothesis is tested through examining the relationship between EF and GDP using linear, quadratic and cubic functions. Further, the long‐run relationship between EF and GDP is investigated using a vector error correction model. It was found that there is a cointegrated relationship between the variables in almost all countries, which was statistically significant, and EKC supported in 10 countries. Additionally, almost all error correction terms are correct in sign and are significant, which implies that some percentage of disequilibria in EF in the previous year adjusts back to the long‐run equilibrium in the current year. Therefore, an efficient trade‐off between environmental protection and economic benefits should be taken, and EF should be reduced through changing consumption patterns, improving the efficiency of use of resources and cleaner technology choices.     

基于RS、GIS与生态足迹法的孝感市生态规划

随着城市化进程的加快,城市生态环境问题越来越成为人们关注的重大问题。城市生态规划是实现城市社会、经济和环境协调发展的重要途径。文章首先利用孝感市统计资料获得人类生产、生活消费类商品所需的生态生产性用地,计算出生态足迹,其次利用TM影像进行土地利用分类,得到各类生态生产性用地,再计算出土地生态承载力,然后将生态足迹与生态承载力求差值,得到生态赤字,最后将孝感市生态赤字、DEM、TM、土地利用分类图,结合RS和GIS技术,对孝感市生态做出规划。     

中国省级区域经济生产的资源需求——基于生态足迹模型的分析

以生态足迹模型的基本方法计算了1990年和2001年中国各省市自治区的生产足迹,以探询经济生产中产生的自然资源需求的区域差异及其影响因素。研究表明,受经济发展水平、资源人口分布、区域政策等影响,北部、西部牧业区和城市地区普遍有较大的资源需求,而南方省份的资源需求更以更快的速度在增长。     

The water footprints of Morocco and the Netherlands: Global water use as a result of domestic consumption of agricultural commodities

The volume of international trade in agricultural commodities is increasing faster than the global volume of production, which is an indicator of growing international dependencies in the area of food supply. Although less obvious, it also implies growing international dependencies in the field of water supply. By importing food, countries also import water in virtual form. The aim of the paper is to assess the water footprints of Morocco, a semi-arid/arid country, and the Netherlands, a humid country. The water footprint of a country is defined as the volume of water used for the production of the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the country. The internal water footprint is the volume of water used from domestic water resources; the external water footprint is the volume of water used in other countries to produce goods and services imported and consumed by the inhabitants of the country. The study shows that both Morocco and the Netherlands import more water in virtual form (in the form of water-intensive agricultural commodities) than they export, which makes them dependent on water resources elsewhere in the world. The water footprint calculations show that Morocco depends for 14% on water resources outside its own borders, while the Netherlands depend on foreign water resources for 95%. It is shown that international trade can result in global water saving when a water-intensive commodity is traded from an area where it is produced with high water productivity to an area with lower water productivity. If Morocco had to domestically produce the products that are now imported from the Netherlands, it would require 780 million m³/year. However, the imported products from the Netherlands were actually produced with only 140 million m³/year, which implies a global water saving of 640 million m³/year.     

资源消耗与经济增长关系的实证分析——以安徽省为例

协调资源消耗与经济增长的关系,是社会经济可持续发展过程中面临的重要问题。本文综合运用生态足迹、协整理论及误差修正模型,实证了安徽省资源消耗与经济增长之间的关系。在计算1990～2004年安徽省各项生态足迹的基础上,分析了GDP与各种足迹之间的长期均衡关系。结果表明GDP分别与总生态足迹、能源足迹、水域足迹之间存在协整关系,而与耕地足迹、草地足迹、林地足迹、建筑足迹不存在协整关系,说明安徽省经济发展属于能源、资源消耗型,增加1%的GDP产出需要增加0.58%的生态足迹,且分别需要增加0.10%的能源足迹和0.32%的水域足迹。据此提出了转变经济发展方式,实现安徽省经济可持续发展的政策建议。     

The water footprint of energy from biomass: A quantitative assessment and consequences of an increasing share of bio-energy in energy supply

This paper assesses the water footprint (WF) of different primary energy carriers derived from biomass expressed as the amount of water consumed to produce a unit of energy (m³/GJ). The paper observes large differences among the WFs for specific types of primary bio-energy carriers. The WF depends on crop type, agricultural production system and climate. The WF of average bio-energy carriers grown in the Netherlands is 24 m³/GJ, in the US 58 m³/GJ, in Brazil 61 m³/GJ, and in Zimbabwe 143 m³/GJ. The WF of bio-energy is much larger than the WF of fossil energy. For the fossil energy carriers, the WF increases in the following order: uranium (0.1 m³/GJ), natural gas (0.1 m³/GJ), coal (0.2 m³/GJ), and finally crude oil (1.1 m³/GJ). Renewable energy carriers show large differences in their WF. The WF for wind energy is negligible, for solar thermal energy 0.3 m³/GJ, but for hydropower 22 m³/GJ. Based on the average per capita energy use in western societies (100 GJ/capita/year), a mix from coal, crude oil, natural gas and uranium requires about 35 m³/capita/year. If the same amount of energy is generated through the growth of biomass in a high productive agricultural system, as applied in the Netherlands, the WF is 2420 m³. The WF of biomass is 70 to 400 times larger than the WF of the other primary energy carriers (excluding hydropower). The trend towards larger energy use in combination with an increasing contribution of energy from biomass will enlarge the need for fresh water. This causes competition with other claims, such as water for food.     

The external water footprint of the Netherlands: Geographically-explicit quantification and impact assessment

This study quantifies the external water footprint of the Netherlands by partner country and import product and assesses the impact of this footprint by contrasting the geographically-explicit water footprint with water scarcity in the different parts of the world. The total water footprint of the Netherlands is estimated to be about 2300 m³/year/cap, of which 67% relates to the consumption of agricultural goods, 31% to the consumption of industrial goods, and 2% to domestic water use. The Dutch water footprint related to the consumption of agricultural goods, is composed as follows: 46% related to livestock products; 17% oil crops and oil from oil crops; 12% coffee, tea, cocoa and tobacco; 8% cereals and beer; 6% cotton products; 5% fruits; and 6% other agricultural products. About 11% of the water footprint of the Netherlands is internal and 89% is external. Only 44% of virtual-water import relates to products consumed in the Netherlands, thus constituting the external water footprint. For agricultural products this is 40% and for industrial products this is 60%. The remaining 56% of the virtual-water import to the Netherlands is re-exported. The impact of the external water footprint of Dutch consumers is highest in countries that experience serious water scarcity. Based on indicators for water scarcity the following eight countries have been identified as most seriously affected: China; India; Spain; Turkey; Pakistan; Sudan; South Africa; and Mexico. This study shows that Dutch consumption implies the use of water resources throughout the world, with significant impacts in water-scarce regions.