Analysis of urban energy consumption in carbon metabolic processes and its structural attributes: a case study for Beijing

Based on urban metabolism theory, urban energy consumption and carbon emission can be analyzed and the urban energy structure and carbon metabolic processes can be specified. By combining input-output analysis with ecological network analysis, the embodied energy and carbon footprint implied in urban products and services can be quantified. On this basis, we introduced energy structure indices based on the embodied energy per unit carbon emitted (i.e., the emission efficiency), which we used to evaluate the energy structure attributes of the metabolic actors. This approach provides a scientific basis for energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. Beijing is trying to control pollution (especially the smog produced by coal combustion), and this task is complicated by its large metabolic fluxes and strong metabolic influence. In this study, we analyzed the energy consumption structure of 28 sectors in Beijing from the perspective of their carbon footprint, and divided the sectors into four categories based on the relationship between their embodied energy consumption and the emission efficiency. We found that most sectors had high energy consumption and low emission efficiency, and that from 2000 to 2010, Beijing's overall consumption structure alternated between high and low embodied energy per unit of carbon emission, but the overall trend of emission efficiency changed toward higher. The insights provided by our analysis reveal ways to reduce carbon emission. Based on the carbon footprints of the 28 sectors, we propose how managers could adjust its energy consumption structure to decrease energy consumption and carbon emission. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.