Consumption structure optimization for reducing energy footprint

To investigate how to obtain the optimal balance between energy consumption and economic development, this paper proposes a multifactor optimization model (MFOM). Different from previous input–output optimization models, our proposed MFOM comprehensively considers the direct and indirect impacts of sectoral consumption activities on total energy consumption. The results show that MFOM achieves higher energy-saving goals by smaller adjustment to consumption activities than the previous input–output optimization models do. The results also show that the consumption of some products should be limited to achieve the energy-saving and economic growth goals, such as Non-ferrous Metal Ore Mining, Chemical Products and Ferrous Metal Ore Processing. Furthermore, the results indicate that the share of some sectors, especially high-level manufacturing sectors, significantly decreases in the consumption structure after optimization. To maintain the sustainable development of these sectors, the dependence of their production activities on energy-intensive products should be reduced.