A Three-Dimensional Evaluation Method for the Metabolic Interaction System of Industrial CO₂ and Water Pollution

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The topic of this article's study is interesting. Here are some concerns that need to address:

Q1: The study assumes that after structural adjustments in key sectors, competitive relationships can be fully transformed into reciprocal ones. In reality, this transformation may be restricted by technological, policy, or market barriers. Has the author evaluated the impact of different transformation efficiencies (e.g., 50% or 80%) on the results?

Q2: The research is based on the 2017 input - output table and historical emission data. But in recent years, under the "dual - carbon" policy, the industrial structure of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has undergone significant changes (e.g., the rise of the new energy industry). Has the model's timeliness been considered by using the latest data for verification? If such data is unavailable, how can we avoid potential biases in strategic recommendations caused by the lack of timeliness?

Q3: The aggregation of 13 sectors in the case may mask the heterogeneity of sub - industries (e.g., "high - end manufacturing" includes enterprises with different technological routes). Could this aggregation lead to overly general results in identifying key sectors? Are there analyses with finer granularity (e.g., by province or technology type) to support the conclusions?

Q4: The study finds that the ADM sector performs well in CO₂ emission reduction but may increase the burden on the WPE (as mentioned on page 17). Does this imply a conflict between "low - carbon technologies" and "water - saving technologies"? Does the author suggest prioritizing policy incentives to coordinate these two types of technologies?

Finally, the conclusion statement should be streamlined, and the sources of the numerous formulas in the article should be clearly stated.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Improve the English grammar.

Discuss more your results.

How do you envision incorporating temporal dynamics into future research, and what specific factors should be considered?

To what extent are the findings of this study generalizable to other industrial regions, and what factors might limit their applicability?

Would it be possible to include visual representations of the key findings to enhance the reader's understanding of the interactions between CO₂ and WPE systems?

Mention the software you used to solve the equations.

Figures 6 + 9: Change the color of the lines and make them more easily to be read.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors improve their manuscript.