Synergetic pathways of water-energy-carbon in ecologically vulnerable regions aiming for carbon neutrality: a case study of Shaanxi, China

Abstract

● A WECA model evaluates water withdrawal and WEQ of typical EVRs’ transition.

● Synergetic pathways of water-energy-carbon to carbon neutrality are proposed.

● Electricity production can escalate WEQ due to industrial transition.

● Limited effects from zero-carbon transition on improving water environment quality.

Synergetic energy-water-carbon pathways are key issues to be tackled under carbon-neutral target and high-quality development worldwide, especially in ecologically vulnerable regions (EVRs). In this study, to explore the synergistic pathways in an EVR, a water-energy-carbon assessment (WECA) model was built, and the synergistic effects of water-energy-carbon were comprehensively and quantitatively analyzed under various scenarios of regional transition. Shaanxi Province was chosen as the representative EVR, and Lower challenge (LEC) and Greater challenge (GER) scenarios of zero-carbon transition were set considering the technological maturity and regional energy characteristics. The results showed that there were limited effects under the zero-carbon transition of the entire region on reducing water withdrawals and improving the water quality. In the LEC scenario, the energy demand and CO₂ emissions of Shaanxi in 2060 will decrease by 70.9% and 99.4%, respectively, whereas the water withdrawal and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential (FAETP) will only decrease by 8.9% and 1.6%, respectively. This could be attributed to the stronger demand for electricity in the energy demand sector caused by industrial transition measures. The GER scenario showed significant growth in water withdrawals (16.0%) and FAETP (36.0%) because of additional biomass demand. To promote the synergetic development of regional transition, EVRs should urgently promote zero-carbon technologies (especially solar and wind power technologies) between 2020 and 2060 and dry cooling technology for power generation before 2030. In particular, a cautious attitude toward the biomass energy with carbon capture and storage technology in EVRs is strongly recommended.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Carbon neutrality / Water withdrawals / Water environment quality / Ecologically vulnerable region / Typical regional transition

References

[1] BP (2013). Water in the energy industry. BP. 2013. Available online at the website of bp.com (accessed March 13, 2023)

[2] CEADs (2022). Carbon emission accounts and datasets. CEADs. 2022. Available online at the website of ceads.net (accessed March 25, 2023)

[3] Chen S, Liu Y, Lin J, Shi X D, Jiang K J, Zhao G L. (2021a). Coordinated reduction of CO₂ emissions and environmental impacts with integrated city-level LEAP and LCA method: a case study of Jinan, China. Advances in Climate Change Research, 12(6): 848–857

[4] ChenS, Lv H, LiS, ShiX, JiangK, ZhaoG (2021b). Methods of comprehensive water footprint assessment for sustainable utilization of water resources. Water Resources Protection, 37(4): 22–28 (in Chinese)

[5] Duan H, Zhou S, Jiang K, Bertram C, Harmsen M, Kriegler E, Van Vuuren D P, Wang S, Fujimori S, Tavoni M. . (2021). Assessing China’ s efforts to pursue the 1.5 °C warming limit. Science, 372(6540): 378–385

[6] Energy Research Institute (2017). Earliest Peaking the Carbon Emission of China. Beijing: China Economic Publishing House (in Chinese)

[7] Fan J, Kong L, Zhang X. (2018). Synergetic effects of water and climate policy on energy-water nexus in China: a computable general equilibrium analysis. Energy Policy, 123: 308–317

[8] Feng Y, Zhu A. (2022). Spatiotemporal differentiation and driving patterns of water utilization intensity in Yellow River Basin of China: comprehensive perspective on the water quantity and quality. Journal of Cleaner Production, 369: 133395

[9] GaBi (2022). GaBi Software. 2022. Available online at the website of gabi.sphera.com (accessed March 1, 2023)

[10] Gain A K, Giupponi C, Wada Y. (2016). Measuring global water security towards sustainable development goals. Environmental Research Letters, 11(12): 124015

[11] Gupta A, Davis M, Kumar A. (2021). An integrated assessment framework for the decarbonization of the electricity generation sector. Applied Energy, 288: 116634

[12] HuB, ZhangY, LiY, TengY, YueW (2020). Can bioenergy carbon capture and storage aggravate global water crisis? Science of the Total Environment, 714: 136856 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136856

[13] Huang K, Eckelman M J. (2022). Appending material flows to the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) for projecting the physical economy of the United States. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26(1): 294–308

[14] IRENA (2021). Innovation Outlook Renewable Methanol. 2021. Available online at the website of irena.org (accessed March 13, 2023)

[15] Martinez A I, Pellicer M F, Fernandez L C. (2018). Pharmaceutical grey water footprint: accounting, influence of wastewater treatment plants and implications of the reuse. Water Research, 135: 278–287

[16] Jia C, Yan P, Liu P, Li Z. (2021). Energy industrial water withdrawal under different energy development scenarios: a multi-regional approach and a case study of China. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 135: 110224

[17] Jiang Y, Shi B, Su G, Lu Y, Li Q, Meng J, Ding Y, Song S, Dai L. (2021). Spatiotemporal analysis of ecological vulnerability in the Tibet Autonomous Region based on a pressure-state-response-management framework. Ecological Indicators, 130: 108054

[18] Kyle P, Davies E, Dooley J, Smith S J, Clarke L E, Edmonds J A, Hejazi M. (2013). Influence of climate change mitigation technology on global demands of water for electricity generation. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 17: 549–552

[19] Leiden University (2002). The CML2001 Method. Leiden University. 2002. Available online at the website of gabi.sphera.com (accessed November 13, 2023)

[20] Li H, Liang Y, Chen Q, Liang S. (2022). Pollution exacerbates interregional flows of virtual scarce water driven by energy demand in China. Water Research, 223: 118980

[21] Liang S, Zhong Q. (2023). Reducing environmental impacts through socioeconomic transitions: critical review and prospects. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 17(2): 24

[22] Lin C, Qi J, Liang S, Feng C, Wiedmann T O, Liao Y, Yang X, Li Y, Mi Z, Yang Z. (2020). Saving less in China facilitates global CO₂ mitigation. Nature Communications, 11: 1358

[23] Liu G, Hu J, Chen C, Xu L, Wang N, Meng F, Giannetti B F, Agostinho F, Almeida C M V B, Casazza M. (2021). LEAP-WEAP analysis of urban energy-water dynamic nexus in Beijing (China). Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 136: 110369

[24] Liu S, Wang C, Shi L, Cai W, Zhang L. (2018). Water conservation implications for decarbonizing non-electric energy supply: a hybrid life-cycle analysis. Journal of Environmental Management, 219: 208–217

[25] Lu X, Tong D, He K. (2023). China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform. Environmental Science & Engineering, 17(2): 14

[26] MEE (2021). Manual of production and emission accounting methods and coefficients for statistical surveys of emission sources. 2021. Available online at the website of mee.gov.cn (accessed Mar 13, 2023)

[27] NBS (2021). China Statistical Yearbook on Environment 2021. Beijing: China Statistics Press (in Chinese)

[28] SBBS (2021). Shaanxi Statistical Yearbook 2021. Beijing: China Statistics Press (in Chinese)

[29] SDEE (2021). Implementation Programme on Strengthening Efforts to Address Climate Change and Ecological and Environmental Protection. SDEE.2021. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed November 26, 2023)

[30] Shaanxi(2018). Shaanxi Province Iron hand to control haze to win the Blue Sky Battle. Shaanxi. 2018. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed March 13, 2023)

[31] Shaanxi(2021a). Shaanxi Province 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Outline of Vision 2035. Shaanxi. 2021. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed March 13, 2023)

[32] Shaanxi(2021b). Shaanxi Province Comprehensive Transportation Development Plan. Shaanxi. 2021. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed March 19, 2023)

[33] Shaanxi (2021c). Shaanxi Province 14th Five-Year Plan for High-Quality Development of Manufacturing Industry. 2021. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed March 19, 2023)

[34] State Council (2013). Notice of the General Office of the State Council on the Issuance of the Most Strict Water Resources Management System. State Council.2013. Available online at the website of shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed April 16, 2023)

[35] SXDEE (2019). Integrated wastewater discharge standard of Yellow river basin in Shaanxi province. SXDEE. 2021. Available online at the website of sthjj.shangluo.gov.cn (accessed March 13, 2023)

[36] SXWRD (2021). Norm of water intake for industries in Shaanxi. Shaanxi. 2021. Available online at the website of slt.shaanxi.gov.cn(accessed March 13, 2023)

[37] Teng J, Deng Y, Zhou X, Yang W, Huang Z, Zhang H, Zhang M, Lin H. (2023). A critical review on thermodynamic mechanisms of membrane fouling in membrane-based water treatment process. Environmental Science & Engineering, 17(10): 129

[38] The State Council (2023). Planning of Major Function Regions Zoning. The State Council. 2023. Available online at shaanxi.gov.cn (accessed August 15, 2023)

[39] Tsinghua University (2019). Annual development report of building energy efficiency in China. Beijing: China Architecture & Building Press (in Chinese)

[40] Wang D, Xu D, Zhou N, Cheng Y. (2022). The asymmetric relationship between sustainable innovation and industrial transformation and upgrading: evidence from China’s provincial panel data. Journal of Cleaner Production, 378: 134453

[41] Wang S, Shi C, Fang C, Feng K S. (2019). Examining the spatial variations of determinants of energy-related CO₂ emissions in China at the city level using Geographically Weighted Regression Model. Applied Energy, 235: 95–105

[42] Xie X, Jiang X, Zhang T, Huang Z. (2020). Study on impact of electricity production on regional water resource in China by water footprint. Renewable Energy, 152: 165–178

[43] Xie Y, Hou Z, Liu H, Cao C, Qi J. (2021). The sustainability assessment of CO₂ capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and the conversion of cropland to forestland program (CCFP) in the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) framework towards China’s carbon neutrality by 2060. Environmental Earth Sciences, 80(14): 468

[44] Zhou Y, Kong Y, Sha J, Wang H. (2019). The role of industrial structure upgrades in eco-efficiency evolution: spatial correlation and spillover effects. Science of the Total Environment, 687: 1327–1336

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press 2024