Peng Xu, Chen Hong, Zhong Honglin, Long Ruyin, Zhang Chao, Zhao Dandan, Yang Guangfei, Hong Jingke, Duan Cuncun, Qi Xinxian, Wei Pengbang, Zhang Pengfei, Chen Jindao
School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
Institute of Blue and Green Development, Weihai Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, Shandong University, Weihai264209, China.
iScience. 2023 Jan 24;26(2):106035. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106035. eCollection 2023 Feb 17.
Electricity sector is the largest CO emitter and water user in China's industrial sectors. The low-carbon transition of China's electricity sector reduces its cooling water consumption. Here we firstly quantify CO emission and virtual water embodied in electricity trade with Quasi-Input-Output model. Then, we analyze the impacts of energy substitution, efficiency improvement, and electricity trade on water-saving co-benefits of CO reduction with the differences between the baseline scenario and counterfactual scenario. Results show that the low-carbon transition contributes to water-saving in China's electricity sector. Virtual water and embodied CO have relatively decoupled from electricity trade since 2012. Water-saving (+10.4% yr) outweighed CO reduction (+8.4% yr) through energy substitution and efficiency improvement in the 'new normal' stage. Our work emphasizes the need to integrate water-saving co-benefits of CO reduction into electricity system planning and highlights the challenges to facilitate coordinated development of the electricity-water nexus in China.
电力部门是中国工业部门中最大的二氧化碳排放源和用水户。中国电力部门的低碳转型降低了其冷却用水消耗。在此，我们首先运用准投入产出模型量化电力贸易中蕴含的二氧化碳排放和虚拟水。然后，通过对比基准情景和反事实情景之间的差异，分析能源替代、效率提升和电力贸易对二氧化碳减排节水协同效益的影响。结果表明，低碳转型有助于中国电力部门节水。自2012年以来，虚拟水和隐含二氧化碳与电力贸易已相对脱钩。在“新常态”阶段，通过能源替代和效率提升实现的节水（每年+10.4%）超过了二氧化碳减排（每年+8.4%）。我们的研究强调有必要将二氧化碳减排的节水协同效益纳入电力系统规划，并凸显了促进中国电力-水关联协调发展所面临的挑战。
