Unveiling the Nexus Profile of Embodied Water-Energy-Carbon-Value Flows of the Yellow River Basin in China

Minimal research explores the WEC andvalue-added nexusefficiency of the YRB. This study uncovers that the YRB benefits fromregional trade but suffers environmental losses. Unveiling the nexus profile of the water-energy-carbon(WEC) and value flows embodied in regional trade is essential forenhancing the co-benefits between economic development and environmentconservation. However, minimal research explores the WEC and value-addednexus efficiency of the Yellow Basin River (YRB) with a comprehensiveframework. Thus, this study built a nexus framework based on a multiregionalinput-output model (MRIO) to analyze embodied WEC and value-addedflows in the nine provinces of the YRB and all 31 provinces of China,primarily in 2017 compared to 2012 and 2015. Three dimensions (space,sectors, and environmental and economic factors) depict the WEC andvalue-added nexus patterns. The results from these three dimensionsuncovered that the YRB benefits from regional trade but suffers environmentallosses, and the development imbalance among the provinces of the basinis exacerbated. The proposed integrated framework can be generalizedto water-energy extended nexus analysis in other regions toportray a more complex human-environment system nexus pattern. Thenew knowledge of how embodied WEC interacts with concomitant economicactivities within and beyond the YRB can benefit multiresource-integratedmanagement in the YRB and coordinated regional development in China.