LAUSR

Abstract Energy and water resources are drawing increasing attention in China as indispensable elements of economic development and social stability. Energy production has led to widely debated issues such as water shortage and water pollution. Studies on their interrelation – i.e. the energy-water nexus – indicate that energy conservation impacts water resources. Energy conservation can bring synergy on water resources, but it is an unsettle issue to what degree energy conservation could indirectly protect water resources. In this work, we built an accounting framework to assess the synergy of energy conservation on both water quantity and quality at regional levels. Multiregional input-output (MRIO) analysis and economic parameters such as water price and treatment costs of water resources are applied to evaluate the value of synergy. The results show that Jiangsu saved the largest quantity of water with a volume of 63.7 × 10 8 m 3 , while Hunan achieved the largest reduction of wastewater with a volume of 3.2 × 10 8 m 3 during 2007–2012. The total synergy was divided into two aspects: internal and external. The former was generally larger in most regions except Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Hainan, Shaanxi, Anhui and Inner Mongolia. The results of an economic assessment show that China achieved 1.1 × 10 12 yuan of economic benefit through the synergy benefits from a holistic perspective. Jiangsu, Shanghai, Fujian, Shandong and Heilongjiang were primary beneficiaries due to their significant synergistic water saving and high shadow price of water resources. The proposed assessment framework may help understand the situation of regional resources conservation from both synergistic and economic perspectives.