Dynamic characteristics and drivers of the regional household energy-carbon-water nexus in China

Being a node of the energy-water consumer and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitter, the household is one key sector to pilot integrated energy-carbon-water (ECW) management. This study developed an integrated framework to explore China’s provincial household ECW nexus as well as their drivers from the years 2000 through 2016. The absolute amount and growth rate of household energy use (HEU), household CO₂ emissions (HCE), and household water use (HWU) were abstracted to reveal the dynamic characteristics of the household ECW nexus. Efficiency advance, income growth, urbanization, family size, and household number were defined to explain the changes in the household ECW nexus. This study revealed that there is a huge regional heterogeneity in China’s household ECW nexus. Developed regions such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Shanghai are the most important household ECW nexus nodes with larger amounts and growth rates of household ECW. Income growth overwhelmingly increases ECW, while efficiency advance effectively curbs its growth. Comparatively, household number, family size, and urbanization have small effects. Therefore, implementing differentiated management and focusing on the synergy of socioeconomic factors are the keys to achieving integrated household ECW management. And the analytical framework can be used to analyze ECW nexus from a sector, city, or country perspective.