Structural changes in China’s material flows
As China has transitioned from being primarily agricultural to becoming an industrialized nation, the share of biological materials in its DMIs has declined - gomg from 19.47% in 1992 to 9.86% in 2014 (see Figure 1.10). In contrast, with the emergence of manufacturing industries, the increase in the production of metals and minerals has been pronounced, rising at an annual rate of 5.91%. Industries involved in basic infrastructure, construction, and real estate, all of which have flourished in the course of rapid industrialization, have further pushed up the quantity of metals inputs, with the most representative being iron ore. Iron ore has a fairly low coefficient of ‘hidden flows’ and the increased percentage of iron ore production in the total had the effect of drawing down the ecological burden of metals production. However, after 2011, given a decline in iron ore production, the per unit ecological burden of metals production has again begun to rise. Meanwhile, the amount of earth taken off the surface of the land has surpassed metals as the largest source of ‘hidden flows.’ In addition, the demand for
Figure 1.9 Per capita DMI curve from 1992 to 2014
Source: Background report titled Transformation of Resource Utilization: Paths and Measures for Reducing Emissions and Resource Use in Production.
Figure 1.10 Composition and changes in China’s material inputs from 1992 to 2014
Source: Background report titled Transformation of Resource Utilization: Paths and Measures for Reducing Emissions and Resource Use in Production.
limestone, one of the most important raw materials in building construction, has consistently gone up, to the extent that there is a noticeable increase in inputs described as nomnetallic inputs.
The second-largest source of‘hidden flows’ of materials in China, with its commensurate environmental burden, comes from fossil fuels. Between 1992 and 2014, the per-unit environmental burden of fossil fuels rose, mainly due to the increased percentage of coal in China’s energy consumption. China is described as being Tich in coal, poor in oil, and not well endowed in natural gas.’ With the ongoing increase in demand for energy, the extraction of coal has continued to rise as a percentage of total energy supply. Meanwhile, the ‘hidden flow coefficient’ of coal is high relative to oil and natural gas, which serves to increase the overall per unit ecological burden of fossil fuels. In 2014, China’s production of coal began to decline. This resulted in a slight decline in the per unit ecological burden of fossil fuels.
Obviously, metals and fossil fuels are two of the most impoxtant resources sup- poiting China’s development at this present time. They also are the piimaxy source of hidden flows. If we are to lower the environmental pressure brought on by economic development, we must start by addressing the problems of mining and producing metals and fossil fuels. On one hand, we must push ahead with utilizing recycled metals and minerals and lower the quantity of such resources that we have to mine. On the other hand, we must develop new forms of energy and reduce our use of fossil fuels.
