Energy and Water Nexus and Collaborative Development in Provincial Economic System: Empirical Study in Fujian Based on Input-Output and Ecological Network Analysis

The collaborative development of energy and water resources is the internal requirement for the provincial economy to implement the new development concept and promote high-quality development. Based on input-output analysis and ecological network analysis, the regional correlation network is constructed. The correlation index is created to evaluate the comprehensive pressure of each department affected by energy and water nexus, and then the circularity, robustness, control and dependence of the nexus network are evaluated. The findings are as follows: energy consumption and energy-related water consumption are different among sectors, while water consumption and water-related energy consumption are similar among sectors; the upgrading of the industrial structure can help to reduce the energy consumption and water consumption of the region; the performance of water nexus network in cyclic efficiency and robustness are better than those of energy nexus network respectively; the departments which are greatly affected by nexus reflect the characteristics of high mutual demand between energy and water. Finally, some countermeasures are put forward to realize the collaborative development of energy and water from two perspectives of improving the utilization efficiency of resources and promoting the inter-departmental coordination and upgrading.