Ecological footprint accounting based on emergy—A case study of the Chinese society

The resource consumption of the Chinese society from 1981 to 2001 is investigated using ecological footprint (EF) and emergetic ecological footprint (EEF). The latter is a newly development modification of ecological footprint based on ecological thermodynamics. Individual sectors in society are described in detail corresponding to the EF and EEF components based on different views of ecological production. The EF and EEF intensities are also presented to depict the resource consumption level corresponding to unit economic output. Finally, EEF is suggested to serve as a modified indicator of EF to illustrate the resource, environment, and population activity, and thereby reflecting the ecological overshoot of the general ecological system.