In this paper we use complex network analysis to describe fossil fuel spatial flows among 132 places covering the entire United States in 2017 and in 2022. These spatial flows are for crude petroleum, gasoline, and oil fuels. The analysis shows that all three fuels have different network topology. For all six networks we find major hubs of crude petroleum and its products, gasoline and fuel oils, concentrated in areas with large reserves such as the south-central part of the US. Using modularity, a network cluster identification metric, we show that spatial interactions can be used to delineate functional regions and their differences across fuel types. These functional regions evolve over time in response to the shifting US role as a major producer and net exporter of fossil fuels, expansion of the domestic pipeline network, and increases in fuel production and refinement locations. The modal split of the fuels examined in this paper shows the dominant role pipelines play for crude petroleum, transporting approximately 83 % of tonnage in 2017 and increasing to almost 89 % in 2022. In contrast, gasoline and oil fuels modal split hovers at around 60 % of tonnage transported by tanker truck followed by other modes including pipelines. Our analysis shows geographic clustering of major hubs and their functional regions along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana. These are in places that are often the locations of natural disasters. This together with the rapid increase of a few hubs as gateways to fossil fuel US exports makes them prime candidates in disrupting fossil fuel supply chains worldwide and amplifies vulnerability of fossil fuel supply chains. The spatial clustering trends shown in this paper provide added evidence of the source of short-term negative impacts in places such as Chicago in Illinois and Corpus Christi in Texas. This offers added information for government intervention.

中文翻译：

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2017-2022 年美国化石燃料功能区复杂网络分析


在本文中，我们使用复杂网络分析来描述 2017 年和 2022 年覆盖整个美国的 132 个地方之间的化石燃料空间流动。这些空间流适用于原油、汽油和石油燃料。分析表明，所有三种燃料都具有不同的网络拓扑。对于所有六个网络，我们发现原油及其产品、汽油和燃料油的主要枢纽都集中在储量大的地区，例如美国中南部。使用网络集群识别指标模块化，我们表明空间交互可用于描绘功能区域及其在不同燃料类型的差异。这些功能区域随着时间的推移而发展，以应对美国作为化石燃料主要生产国和净出口国的角色转变、国内管道网络的扩大以及燃料生产和精炼地点的增加。本文研究的燃料的模态分割显示了管道在原油中发挥的主导作用，2017 年运输了约 83% 的吨位，到 2022 年增加到近 89%。相比之下，汽油和石油燃料的模式拆分徘徊在油罐车运输吨位的 60% 左右，其次是包括管道在内的其他模式。我们的分析显示了德克萨斯州和路易斯安那州墨西哥湾沿岸主要枢纽及其功能区域的地理聚集。这些地方通常是自然灾害的发生地。再加上一些枢纽迅速增加，成为美国化石燃料出口的门户，使它们成为扰乱全球化石燃料供应链并放大化石燃料供应链脆弱性的主要候选者。 本文中显示的空间聚类趋势为伊利诺伊州芝加哥和德克萨斯州科珀斯克里斯蒂等地的短期负面影响来源提供了更多证据。这为政府干预提供了额外的信息。