Exergy analysis of embodied natural resources use in China and its driving factors: From a production perspective

China has established a complete industrial system to meet with both domestic and international demands, leading to massive natural resource consumption. It is therefore urgent to clarify the features of natural resource utilization in China. However, there is still a lack of a unified natural resources accounting framework on such issues. This study tries to measure embodied natural resource utilization in China for the period of 2002–2017 by combining exergetic analysis and input-output analysis, considering both primary resource inputs and environmental inputs. Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) was applied to identify corresponding driving factors. Results show that exergy equivalent of additional natural resource to treat environmental pollutants (3.07E+20–5.31E+20 Jex) was almost the same magnitude as natural resources use itself (2.98E+20–1.18E+21 Jex). Internal embodied natural resource of production sectors mainly came from intermediate inputs (66.60%–75.34%). Economic scale, labor efficiency and fixed asset investment intensity were the key positive driving factors, while final use level, fixed asset investment efficiency and natural resources intensity were the key negative driving factors. The production system in China had changed from a net exporter of embodied natural resources in 2002 (1.56E+19 Jex) to a net importer in 2017 (−3.38E+18 Jex). Natural resource intensity was the major positive factor for net exports, while trade structure was the major negative factor except 2007. In summary, this study provides valuable insights for making sector-specific policies to alleviate resource crisis, including appropriate policies, technological improvements, economic instruments, and capacity building.