Emergy Evaluation and Assessment of Sustainability on the Eco-Economic System of Xinjiang
新疆生态经济系统的能值分析及其可持续性评估

In this paper, on the basis of emergy analysis, indices and ratios are calculated and analysed in the eco-economic system of Xinjiang from 1991 to 1999. The research results showed that: 1) the emergy yield ratio decreased from 23.6 in 1991 to 11.7 in 1999, however, the ratio in each year was more than 1, which indicates Xinjiang is an export-oriented eco-economic region with much more emergy exporting to the outsides; 2) the emergy-based sustainability index changed from 262 in 1991 to 64.1 in 1999, which indicates Xinjiang has made certain progress in resource utilization and economic development, but it is still a less-developed region; 3) the environmental loading ratios of Xinjiang increased from 0.09 in 1991 to 0.18 in 1999, which indicates the ratios are much less than the average level of the world, and there is still greater potential for further economic development; 4) the upper limits of population carrying capacity in Xinjiang is more than 100 million persons, which indicates it is rational to have immigrants for the development of Xinjiang in the future.