China's coal-fired power plants impose pressure on water resources

Xinxin Zhang; Junguo Liu; Yu Tang; Xu Zhao; Hong Yang; P. W. Gerbens-Leenes; Michelle T.H. van Vliet; Jinyue Yan

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.040

China's coal-fired power plants impose pressure on water resources

Xinxin Zhang, Junguo Liu^*, Yu Tang, Xu Zhao, Hong Yang, P. W. Gerbens-Leenes, Michelle T.H. van Vliet, Jinyue Yan

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation around the world. This type of electricity generation uses large amounts of water, increasing pressure on water resources. This calls for an in-depth investigation in the water-energy nexus of coal-fired electricity generation. In China, coal-fired power plants play an important role in the energy supply. Here we assessed water consumption of coal-fired power plants (CPPs) in China using four cooling technologies: closed-cycle cooling, once-through cooling, air cooling, and seawater cooling. The results show that water consumption of CPPs was 3.5 km³, accounting for 11% of total industrial water consumption in China. Eighty-four percent of this water consumption was from plants with closed-cycle cooling. China's average water intensity of CPPs was 1.15 l/kWh, while the intensity for closed-cycle cooling was 3–10 times higher than that for other cooling technologies. About 75% of water consumption of CPPs was from regions with absolute or chronic water scarcity. The results imply that the development of CPPs needs to explicitly consider their impacts on regional water resources.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1171-1179
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume	161
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.040
Publication status	Published - 10 Sept 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The present work was partially developed within the frame-work of the Panta Rhei Research Initiative of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) by the working group ?Water Scarcity Assessment: Methodology and Application?. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571022, 41625001), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation Grant (8151002), the National Science and Technology Major Project (2015ZX07203-005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91325302, 91425303). Additional support was provided by the Southern University of Science and Technology (Grant no. G01296001).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

The present work was partially developed within the frame-work of the Panta Rhei Research Initiative of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) by the working group ?Water Scarcity Assessment: Methodology and Application?. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571022, 41625001), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation Grant (8151002), the National Science and Technology Major Project (2015ZX07203-005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91325302, 91425303). Additional support was provided by the Southern University of Science and Technology (Grant no. G01296001).

Keywords

Coal-fired power
Water consumption
Water-energy nexus

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.040

Cite this

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title = "China's coal-fired power plants impose pressure on water resources",

abstract = "Coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation around the world. This type of electricity generation uses large amounts of water, increasing pressure on water resources. This calls for an in-depth investigation in the water-energy nexus of coal-fired electricity generation. In China, coal-fired power plants play an important role in the energy supply. Here we assessed water consumption of coal-fired power plants (CPPs) in China using four cooling technologies: closed-cycle cooling, once-through cooling, air cooling, and seawater cooling. The results show that water consumption of CPPs was 3.5 km3, accounting for 11\% of total industrial water consumption in China. Eighty-four percent of this water consumption was from plants with closed-cycle cooling. China's average water intensity of CPPs was 1.15 l/kWh, while the intensity for closed-cycle cooling was 3–10 times higher than that for other cooling technologies. About 75\% of water consumption of CPPs was from regions with absolute or chronic water scarcity. The results imply that the development of CPPs needs to explicitly consider their impacts on regional water resources.",

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author = "Xinxin Zhang and Junguo Liu and Yu Tang and Xu Zhao and Hong Yang and Gerbens-Leenes, \{P. W.\} and \{van Vliet\}, \{Michelle T.H.\} and Jinyue Yan",

note = "Funding Information: The present work was partially developed within the frame-work of the Panta Rhei Research Initiative of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) by the working group ?Water Scarcity Assessment: Methodology and Application?. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571022, 41625001), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation Grant (8151002), the National Science and Technology Major Project (2015ZX07203-005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91325302, 91425303). Additional support was provided by the Southern University of Science and Technology (Grant no. G01296001). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd",

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AU - Yang, Hong

AU - Gerbens-Leenes, P. W.

AU - van Vliet, Michelle T.H.

AU - Yan, Jinyue

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PY - 2017/9/10

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N2 - Coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation around the world. This type of electricity generation uses large amounts of water, increasing pressure on water resources. This calls for an in-depth investigation in the water-energy nexus of coal-fired electricity generation. In China, coal-fired power plants play an important role in the energy supply. Here we assessed water consumption of coal-fired power plants (CPPs) in China using four cooling technologies: closed-cycle cooling, once-through cooling, air cooling, and seawater cooling. The results show that water consumption of CPPs was 3.5 km3, accounting for 11% of total industrial water consumption in China. Eighty-four percent of this water consumption was from plants with closed-cycle cooling. China's average water intensity of CPPs was 1.15 l/kWh, while the intensity for closed-cycle cooling was 3–10 times higher than that for other cooling technologies. About 75% of water consumption of CPPs was from regions with absolute or chronic water scarcity. The results imply that the development of CPPs needs to explicitly consider their impacts on regional water resources.

AB - Coal is the dominant fuel for electricity generation around the world. This type of electricity generation uses large amounts of water, increasing pressure on water resources. This calls for an in-depth investigation in the water-energy nexus of coal-fired electricity generation. In China, coal-fired power plants play an important role in the energy supply. Here we assessed water consumption of coal-fired power plants (CPPs) in China using four cooling technologies: closed-cycle cooling, once-through cooling, air cooling, and seawater cooling. The results show that water consumption of CPPs was 3.5 km3, accounting for 11% of total industrial water consumption in China. Eighty-four percent of this water consumption was from plants with closed-cycle cooling. China's average water intensity of CPPs was 1.15 l/kWh, while the intensity for closed-cycle cooling was 3–10 times higher than that for other cooling technologies. About 75% of water consumption of CPPs was from regions with absolute or chronic water scarcity. The results imply that the development of CPPs needs to explicitly consider their impacts on regional water resources.

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China's coal-fired power plants impose pressure on water resources

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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