Embodied energy in China: drivers and inequality at a regional level

China is a large economy with unbalanced economic growth throughout different regions, posing a great challenge to allocating energy saving and carbon emissions reduction responsibilities. This paper applies the multi-regional input-output tables of China in 2007 and 2012 to evaluate the status of embodied energy consumption. The embodied energy transfer of eight regions in China is analyzed based on a demand-side perspective. Furthermore, the driving factors of embodied energy changes and the inequality at a regional level are explored via a structural decomposition analysis, which provides references for promoting regional energy development and adjusting the industrial layout. The results indicate that China’s total embodied energy consumption increased from 2.06 billion tons of standard coal equivalent (tce) in 2007 to 3.46 billion tce in 2012. Specifically, embodied energy consumption is concentrated in the Central regions, consuming 710 million tce in 2012. In addition, a large proportion of energy produced in all regions is consumed locally, while the amount of transferred embodied energy is widespread across different regions. The economic scale is the primary driving factor of embodied energy consumption changes, and technological development has a noticeable effect on restraining energy consumption. Regarding the structural effect, significant differences exist in different regions and end-use sectors. In conclusion, the regional development policies aiming to optimize the industrial structure and strengthen energy technology improvement in dual-circulation development patterns are proposed.