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The employment impacts of fossil fuel trade across cities in China: A telecoupling perspective

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  • Jin, Yi
  • Yang, Jialiang
  • Feng, Cuiyang
  • Li, Yingzhu

Abstract

The trade of resources geographically bridges production and consumption, driving telecoupling between resource extraction and distant consumption. However, the telecoupling between employment and fossil fuels has not been quantitatively analyzed yet, presenting a barrier to employment management under the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Here we investigate the telecoupled employment driven by intercity fossil fuel trade in China. A spatially explicit inventory of 989 coal mines, 642 oil fields, and 461 gas fields has been compiled for analysis. The results show that 1560 k of workers extract fossil fuels to satisfy external energy demands (referred to as telecoupled employment), accounting for 70 % of total employment for fossil fuel extraction in China. The coal trade drives 58 % of the total telecoupled employment while oil and gas drive 42 %. 26 % of intercity telecoupled employment is transferred intra-provincially whereas 74 % is transferred interprovincially. 222 cities drive more employment from the consumption-based perspective than from the production-based perspective, while 91 cities see the reverse. It is of significance for fossil fuel exporters to incorporate this telecoupling (e.g. the direction and scale of telecoupled employment) into city policies to assess the transboundary employment impacts of the changes in energy demands of importers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jin, Yi & Yang, Jialiang & Feng, Cuiyang & Li, Yingzhu, 2024. "The employment impacts of fossil fuel trade across cities in China: A telecoupling perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:307:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224025258
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.132751
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