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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

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ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

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Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    2024, Vol. 18 Issue (9) : 106    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1866-6
Synergetic pathways of water-energy-carbon in ecologically vulnerable regions aiming for carbon neutrality: a case study of Shaanxi, China
Yingying Liu1, Hanbing Li1, Sha Chen1(), Lantian Zhang1, Sumei Li1, He Lv2, Ji Gao3, Shufen Cui4, Kejun Jiang5
1. Department of Environmental Science, Key Laboratory of Beijing on Regional Air Pollution Control, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
2. China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, Beijing 100711, China
3. Environmental Defense Fund, Beijing 100007, China
4. Department of Financial Management, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, China
5. Energy Research Institute, Beijing 100038, China
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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.
Keywords Carbon neutrality      Water withdrawals      Water environment quality      Ecologically vulnerable region      Typical regional transition     
Corresponding Author(s): Sha Chen   
Issue Date: 13 June 2024
 Cite this article:   
Yingying Liu,Hanbing Li,Sha Chen, et al. Synergetic pathways of water-energy-carbon in ecologically vulnerable regions aiming for carbon neutrality: a case study of Shaanxi, China[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(9): 106.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1866-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I9/106
Fig.1  Modeling framework of the WECA model.
Fig.2  Scenarios setting (length of the color bar represents technical proportions).
Sectors Formula Notes Data sources
Agriculture WFa gr=∑i= 1nPOPa ni ,i×wfa ni ,i+∑i =1 nAreac rop,i×wfc ro p,i POPani,i: number of livestock i (unit)wfani,i: unit water withdrawal of livestock i (m3/unit)Areacrop,i: acreage of crop i (m2)wfcorp,i: unit water withdrawal of crop (m3/m2) 1) Statistical yearbooksShaanxi Statistical Yearbook (SBBS, 2021)2) Government PlanningThe 14th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Protection (SDEE, 2021)Notice of the General Office of the State Council on the Issuance of the Most Strict Water Resources Management System (State Council, 2013)3) ReportsEIA reportsSurvey reports of the enterpriseInnovation Outlook Renewable Methanol (IRENA, 2021)Water in the energy industry (BP, 2013)4) Industry StandardsNorm of water intake for industries in Shaanxi (SXWRD, 2021)5) Eco-invent datasets v3.8 (GaBi, 2022)
Resident Life WFr es=∑i=1nP OP res u,i×wfr es u,i + ∑i=1n POPr es r,i× wf re sr,i POPresu,I i: urban population (person)Wfresu,ii: per capita water withdrawal of urban residents (m3/person)POPresr,i i: rural population (person)Wfresr,ii: per capita water withdrawal of rural residents (m3/person)
Public Life WFr es=∑i=1nP OP car,i×wfc ar ,i+∑ i=1nAreas er ,i×wfs er ,i POPcar,i: number of vehicles i (unit)Wfcar,i: unit water withdrawal of vehicles i (m3/unit)Areaser,i: service area (m2)Wfser,i: water withdrawal per unit area (m3/m2)
Industry WF ind= ∑i=1n POPi nd,i× wf in d,i POPind,i: number of industrial product i (t)Wfind,i: unit water withdrawal of product i (m3/t)
Energy transformation sectors WF ene= ∑i=1n POPe ne,i× wf en e,i POPene,i: number of energy product i (unit)Wfene,i: unit water withdrawal of energy product i (m3/unit)
Ecosystem recharge WF env= ∑i=1n Areae nv,i× wf en v,i POPind,i:area of Environmental greening i (m2)Wfind,i: water withdrawal per unit area (m3/m2)
Tab.1  The calculations of water withdrawal
Sectors Formula Notes Data sources
Agriculture EPa gr=∑i=1n∑j=1nP OP ani,i×epa ni ,i,j + ∑i=1n∑ j=1nARi,j× Areac ro p,i× α c or p,j POPani,i: number of livestock i (unit)epani,i: unit emissions of pollutant i about livestock i (kg/unit)Areacrop,i: acreage of crop i (m2)ARi,i,i: fertilizer and pesticide use in category j for crop i (kg/ m2)acorp,j,i: fertilizer and pesticide leaching rate (%) 1) Statistical yearbooksChina Environmental Statistical Yearbook (NBS, 2021)Shaanxi Statistical Yearbook (SBBS, 2021)2) ReportsEIA reportsEnterprise monitoring data3) Environmental StandardsIntegrated wastewater discharge standard of Yellow river basin in Shaanxi province (SXDEE, 2019)Manual of production and emission accounting methods and coefficients for statistical surveys of emission sources (MEE, 2021)4) Government PlanningNotice of the General Office of the State Council on the Issuance of the Most Strict Water Resources Management System (State Council, 2013)5) Eco-invent datasets v3.8 (GaBi, 2022)
Resident Life EPr es=∑i=1n∑j=1nC i,j×PO Pr esu,i×wwr es u,i + ∑i=1n∑ j=1nCi ,j×P OP res r,i×wwr es r,i POPresu,I i: urban population (person)wwresu,ii: Discharge per capita of urban residents (m3/person)POPresr,i i: rural populationwwresr,ii: discharge per capita of rural residents (m3/person)Ci,j: the concentration of water pollutant j in the sector i (mg/L)
Public Life EPser=∑i=1n∑j=1nC i,j×PO Pc ar,i× ww ca r,i + ∑i=1n∑ j=1nCi ,j×Areas er,i× ww se r,i POPcar,i: number of vehicles i (unit)wwcar,i: unit wastewater emissions of vehicles i (m3/unit)Areaser,i: service area (m2)wwser,i: wastewater emissions per unit area (m3/ m2)
Industry EP ind= ∑i=1n∑j=1n Ci,j ×POP in d,i× ww in d,i POPind,i: number of industrial product i (t)wwind,i: unit wastewater emissions of product i (m3/ t)
Energy transformation sectors EP ene= ∑i=1n∑j=1n Ci,j× POPe ne ,i×wwe ne ,i POPene,i: number of energy product i (unit)wwene,i: unit wastewater emissions of energy product i (m3/unit)
Tab.2  The calculations for water pollutant emissions
Synergetic criteria Indicators and weights Definition formula Notes
Energy Non-fossil energy consumption (Ri, 25%) Ri=Rr ,iRp,i Rr,i: non-fossil energy demand of region i (tce)Rp,i: total energy demand of region i (tce)
CO2 emission CO2 emission (Pi, 25%) Pi= P2020,i−Pj,iP2020, i P2020,i: CO2 emissions of region i in 2020 (t)Pj,i: CO2 emissions of region i in year j (t)
Water quantity Water withdrawal (Wi,25%) Wi= W2020 ,i−Wj,i W2020 ,i W2020,i: water withdrawal of region i in 2020 (m3)Wj,i: water withdrawal of region i in year j (m3)
Water environment Water environment impacts (Ei, 25%) Ei= E2020,i−Ej,iE2020, i E2020,i: environmental impacts of region i in 2020 (FAETP, kg DCB eq/kg; EP, kg phosphate eq/kg ; AP, kg SO2 eq/kg),Ej,i: environmental impacts of region i in year j (FAETP, kg DCB eq/kg; EP, kg phosphate eq/kg; AP, kg SO2 eq/kg)
Tab.3  Definition formula, hierarchy and weights for assessing synergetic effects
Fig.3  Energy demand (a) and CO2 emissions (b).
Fig.4  Water withdrawal (a) and water environmental quality (b, EP; c, AP; d, FAETP).
Fig.5  Water pollutant emissions (a, BOD; b, NH3–N; c, COD; d, oil; e, TN; f, TP; g, sulphide; h, fluoride; i, total lead; j, total mercury; k, cyanide; l, total arsenic; m, volatile phenols; n, total nickel; o, hexavalent chromium; p, total chromium).
Fig.6  The SI (a) and its specific indicators (b) under the three scenarios.
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