Driving force analysis of the consumption of water and energy in China based on LMDI method

The rapid development of urbanization and industrialization in recent decades has put huge pressure on water and energy supply. In this paper, the critical driving forces of water and energy consumption in China are investigated to reveal the linkage between water use and energy consumption changes. A modified Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index(LMDI) method is used to decompose the total effect of water and energy consumption to different driving factors with no residues generation. The total effect of water consumption change is decomposed into four driving factors including industrial water consumption, industrial structure, economic scale and population scale. Similarly, the total effect of energy consumption change is decomposed into three driving factors embracing consumption intensity, economic activity, and population. Then, we calculate contribution values of different driving forces and identify the major influencing factors. The results show that the growth of population and GDP per capita were dominant factors driving water and energy consumption, while the improvement of consumption intensity was inhibiting factor on consumption growth. The results may provide insights for synergetic management to alleviate the pressure caused by excessive water and energy consumption. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.