The carbon footprints of secondary industry in China: an input-output subsystem analysis

As the largest CO2 emitter in the world, China is facing great pressure in emission reduction. The secondary industry is the dominated contributor to the total emissions in China, accounting for about 88.34% in 2012. Therefore, in this paper, an input-output subsystem model is applied to explore the carbon footprints of secondary industry in China. The results show that: (1) from the perspective of direct emissions generated by secondary industry, the production and supply of electricity, steam and water, as well as the manufacture and processing of metals are identified as the sectors with highest carbon emissions. From the perspective of indirect emissions, the final demand of construction and manufacture of mechanical equipment cause the highest CO2 emissions compared with that of other sectors. (2) Of the indirect carbon emissions caused by the final demand of secondary industry, the greatest proportion is generated by the consumption of the products of secondary industry itself. Apart from the products of its own sectors, the construction and the manufacture of mechanical equipment are the two largest, accounting for 44 and 34%, respectively. (3) Secondary industry sectors are also the main source of indirect emissions of non-secondary industry sectors, accounting for about 68.28% of the latter. The findings provide a reference for the promotion of emission reduction of secondary industry in China.