| ID | 150743 |
| Title Proper | Energy-saving implications from supply chain improvement |
| Other Title Information | an exploratory study on China's consumer goods retail system |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Wang, Xi ; Cai, Hua ; Florig, H Keith |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Despite significant public attentions to green supply chain management, few studies have explicitly addressed the energy implications of consumer-goods supply surplus, especially in developing countries like China. This study explored the energy-saving potential from improving supply chain efficiencies and reducing excess inventory in China's retail system from a life-cycle perspective. Through embodied energy analysis, we found that energy invested pre-manufacture contributed 80–95% of the total energy embodied in consumer products. Although embodied energy intensities had declined by 60–90% since the mid-1990s, the lessened marginal improvements implied that "low hanging fruits" have largely been captured, and the search for new opportunities for energy-saving is in demand. Positive correlations between total economic inputs and embodied energy in consumer goods indicated possible synergy effect between cost-reduction and energy-saving in supply system management. And structural path analysis identified sector-specific energy management priorities for each retail-related sector. This study suggested that improving supply chain efficiencies provides a promising supplement to China's current industrial energy-efficient projects which target reducing direct energy use per se as an intra-firm cost-saving measure. From the life-cycle perspective, the definition of "green sector" might have to be reconsidered in China towards a more energy-efficient economy and society. |
| `In' analytical Note | Energy Policy Vol. 95, No.95; Aug 2016: p.411–420 |
| Journal Source | Energy Policy 2016-08 95, 95 |
| Key Words | China ; Energy Efficiency ; Embodied Energy ; Life Cycle Assessment ; Green Supply Chain ; Excess Inventory |