Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Analysis (EE-IOA)

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A natural extension of the physical input-output tables is the inclusion of environmentally relevant materials, which is done in the environmentally-extended input-output analysis (EE-IOA). While it can be argued that all materials have an environmental impact, it is those that have a direct influence on e.g. environmental pollution, climate change, degradation of natural resources and biodiversity loss as a result of economic activities that are quantified (Kitzes 2013). Since they include direct and indirect material (or energy) flows they can be very well expressed as environmental impact indicators such as carbon or water footprints, for which many studies exist, with a handful on cities (Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. 2016; Dias et al. 2014).

An advantage of the EE-IOA method is that it can identify the sectors responsible for the largest share of environmental burden, as it links environmental data (e.g. carbon dioxide emissions) with monetary flows. However, since “the input-output model is in monetary units and the environmental extension is in physical units (e.g. in joules of energy, tons of material, or kilograms of pollutant), this integration is non-trivial” because of the required assumptions that IOA makes around homogenous products, prices and the exclusion of non-market flows (Schaffartzik et al. 2014, 1). Several other strengths and weaknesses of this method are listed in the category overview table.

Publications

Title Type Author(s) Year
Analysis of urban metabolism and policy assessment : building a nested multiregional input-output model Thesis BRAMBILLA di CIVESIO and BURATTI 2019
Household carbon footprint patterns by the degree of urbanisation in Europe Journal Article Ottelin et al. 2019
The Concept of City Carbon Maps: A Case Study of Melbourne, Australia Journal Article Wiedmann et al. 2016
Mercury emissions by Beijing׳s fossil energy consumption: Based on environmentally extended input-output analysis Journal Article Li et al. 2015
Enabling Future Sustainability Transitions: An Urban Metabolism Approach to Los Angeles Journal Article Pincetl et al. 2014
Environmentally extended input–output analysis on a city scale – application to Aveiro (Portugal) Journal Article Dias et al. 2014
An input-output approach to evaluate the water footprint and virtual water trade of Beijing, China Journal Article Wang et al. 2013
Consumption based footprint of a city Conference Paper Worbe et al. 2013
Analysis of water consumption using a regional input-output model: Model development and application to Zhangye City, Northwestern China Journal Article Wang et al. 2009
Hybrid input-output analysis of wastewater treatment and environmental impacts: A case study for the Tokyo Metropolis Journal Article Chen Lin 2009
Analysis of water demand and water pollutant discharge using a regional input-output table: An application to the City of Chongqing, upstream of the Three Gorges Dam in China Journal Article Okadera et al. 2006