Water-saving co-benefits of CO2 reduction in China’s electricity sector
Peng Xu, Hong Chen, Honglin Zhong, Ruyin Long, Chao Zhang, Dandan Zhao, Guangfei Yang, Jingke Hong, Cuncun Duan, Xinxian Qi, Pengbang Wei, Pengfei Zhang, Jindao Chen
Abstract
Electricity sector is the largest CO 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 have relatively decoupled from electricity trade since 2012. Water-saving (+10.4% yr −1 ) outweighed CO 2 reduction (+8.4% yr −1 ) through energy substitution and efficiency improvement in the ‘new normal' stage. Our work emphasizes the need to integrate water-saving co-benefits of CO 2 reduction into electricity system planning and highlights the challenges to facilitate coordinated development of the electricity-water nexus in China.