Irrigation improvement has been identifi ed as an important adaptation strategy for the food and water security under climate change. The Chinese government has issued its fi rst national outline for agricultural water-saving development (2012–2020). The investment in agricultural water-saving and irrigation improvement projects are expected to increase greatly in the near future. Scientifi c analysis of these projects is of vital importance in order to ensure high effi ciency in utilizing the investments and the sustainability of irrigation systems. Natural, social and economic conditions are primary factors in the feasibility analysis of irrigation improvement projects. Hence, it is essential to consider both the economic effi ciency and the environmental sustainability of project implementation. Energy use, based on thermodynamic theory, is a measure for both the free environmental and purchased inputs in common units of solar energy. It could be used to obtain sustainability indicators and to assess the ecoeffi ciency of irrigation projects. energy, economic and sensitivity analysis were integrated into a combined analysis in this study. A case study on a small-scale irrigation project in plain areas of Jiangsu Province in China illustrated the methodology. The results indicated that different calculation results and conclusions were obtained by using energy and economic analysis methods, respectively. The conventional monetary-based analysis method could underestimate or overestimate the assessment indicators. Yet energy as an eco-centric method could neglect the economic utility, human preference and demand. Economic analysis and energy accounting as the complementary valuation methods should be jointly used to provide better insights into the environmental and economic effects of irrigation improvement projects.
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