IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v85y2023ipas0301420723005238.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water-energy nexus embedded in coal supply chain of a coal-based city, China

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Huijun
  • Zeng, Xiaoyu
  • Zhang, Ling
  • Liu, Xin
  • Jiang, Songyan
  • Dong, Zhanfeng
  • Meng, Xiangrui
  • Wang, Qianqian

Abstract

Shortage of water and energy, and uneven distribution of coal and water pose great challenges to the sustainable development of coal-based cities. Water and energy has nexus relationship through the coal supply chain and affect the sustainable development of the cities. While few studies consider water-energy nexus embedded in coal life-cycle for the coal-based cities. Here, we incorporated substance flow analysis (SFA) with life cycle assessment (LCA) and nexus theory to firstly construct a coupled layer model of water-energy nexus for coal resource cities. The coal life-cycle includes coal mining, coal processing, product utilization, and waste disposal. Both water consumption and energy consumption include direct consumption in the coal life-cycle layer, and indirect consumption in the water-energy layer. Then, we firstly applied the model to analyze water and energy consumptions in a typical coal-based city, Huainan City from 1990 to 2020. Our results show that both water and energy consumptions increased to 2.26*108 m3 and 2.14*1010 kgce in 2020. In the whole coal life-cycle, direct water use accounted for 84%–89% of the total water use, and direct energy use accounted for almost all of the total energy use. Among the four stages of the coal life-cycle, product utilization accounted for 80%–89% and 90%–95% of total water consumption and total energy consumption, respectively. In product utilization, mining and manufacturing sectors consumed most of the water and energy, while the consumption for services gradually increased. During coal mining and coal processing, all the consumptions of coal, water, and energy consumption firstly increased and then decreased after 2015. Then, we conducted sensitivity analysis and found that electricity generation and coal consumption coefficient of thermal power plant greatly influence the water consumption and energy use. Finally, we conducted scenario analysis and found that water consumption and energy consumption of Sustainability Scenario (SS) will be 6.3% and 9.4% lower than Baseline Scenario (BS), 12.0% and 17.5% lower than Crisis Scenario (CS), respectively. The study hopes to not only provide a research foundation for life cycle-based approaches and nexus theory, but also a demonstration for promoting sustainable development of other resource-based cities in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Huijun & Zeng, Xiaoyu & Zhang, Ling & Liu, Xin & Jiang, Songyan & Dong, Zhanfeng & Meng, Xiangrui & Wang, Qianqian, 2023. "Water-energy nexus embedded in coal supply chain of a coal-based city, China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:85:y:2023:i:pa:s0301420723005238
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420723005238
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103812?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shao, Shuai & Liu, Jianghua & Geng, Yong & Miao, Zhuang & Yang, Yingchun, 2016. "Uncovering driving factors of carbon emissions from China’s mining sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 220-238.
    2. Wang, Jinman & Wang, Ruogu & Zhu, Yucheng & Li, Jiayan, 2018. "Life cycle assessment and environmental cost accounting of coal-fired power generation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 374-384.
    3. Zhai, Mengyu & Huang, Guohe & Liu, Lirong & Zheng, Boyue & Li, Yongping, 2021. "Economic modeling of national energy, water and air pollution nexus in China under changing climate conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 375-386.
    4. Guan, Shihui & Han, Mengyao & Wu, Xiaofang & Guan, ChengHe & Zhang, Bo, 2019. "Exploring energy-water-land nexus in national supply chains: China 2012," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1225-1234.
    5. Li, Chong-Mao & Nie, Rui, 2017. "An evaluating system for scientific mining of China's coal resources," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 317-327.
    6. Wang, Qiang & Song, Xiaoxin, 2021. "Why do China and India burn 60% of the world’s coal? A decomposition analysis from a global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    7. Lubega, William N. & Farid, Amro M., 2014. "Quantitative engineering systems modeling and analysis of the energy–water nexus," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 142-157.
    8. Wang, Xue-Chao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao & Dong, Xiaobin & Wei, Hejie & Xu, Zihan & Varbanov, Petar Sabev, 2020. "Water-Energy-Carbon Emissions nexus analysis of China: An environmental input-output model-based approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    9. Wang, Ning & Ren, Yixin & Zhu, Tao & Meng, Fanxin & Wen, Zongguo & Liu, Gengyuan, 2018. "Life cycle carbon emission modelling of coal-fired power: Chinese case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 841-852.
    10. Wang, Xiaoliu & Yang, Meng & Zhu, Xiaonan & Zhu, Lingjun & Wang, Shurong, 2020. "Experimental study and life cycle assessment of CO2 methanation over biochar supported catalysts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    11. McManamay, Ryan A. & DeRolph, Christopher R. & Surendran-Nair, Sujithkumar & Allen-Dumas, Melissa, 2019. "Spatially explicit land-energy-water future scenarios for cities: Guiding infrastructure transitions for urban sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 880-900.
    12. Wang, Ning & Shen, Ruifang & Wen, Zongguo & De Clercq, Djavan, 2019. "Life cycle energy efficiency evaluation for coal development and utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1-11.
    13. Hou, Yanliang & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong & Zhang, Linling, 2018. "Research on the sustainable development of China’s coal cities based on lock-in effect," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 479-486.
    14. Wang, Na & Fu, Xiaodong & Wang, Shaobin & Yang, Hao & Li, Zhen, 2022. "Convergence characteristics and distribution patterns of residential electricity consumption in China: An urban-rural gap perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    15. Rio Carrillo, Anna Mercè & Frei, Christoph, 2009. "Water: A key resource in energy production," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4303-4312, November.
    16. Zhai, Yijie & Ma, Xiaotian & Gao, Feng & Zhang, Tianzuo & Hong, Jinglan & Zhang, Xu & Yuan, Xueliang & Li, Xiangzhi, 2020. "Is energy the key to pursuing clean air and water at the city level? A case study of Jinan City, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    17. Yuan, Jia-Hai & Kang, Jian-Gang & Zhao, Chang-Hong & Hu, Zhao-Guang, 2008. "Energy consumption and economic growth: Evidence from China at both aggregated and disaggregated levels," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 3077-3094, November.
    18. Li, Ying & Chiu, Yung-ho & Lin, Tai-Yu, 2019. "Coal production efficiency and land destruction in China's coal mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Chaodong Yan & Hongjun Dai & Wen Guo, 2017. "Evaluation of Ecological Environmental Quality in a Coal Mining Area by Modelling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-13, July.
    20. Li, Xian & Yang, Lili & Zheng, Heran & Shan, Yuli & Zhang, Zongyong & Song, Malin & Cai, Bofeng & Guan, Dabo, 2019. "City-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 827-834.
    21. Liang, M.S. & Huang, G.H. & Chen, J.P. & Li, Y.P., 2022. "Energy-water-carbon nexus system planning: A case study of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    22. Xia, Chuyu & Chen, Bin, 2020. "Urban land-carbon nexus based on ecological network analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    23. Wang, Xue-Chao & Jiang, Peng & Yang, Lan & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao, 2021. "Extended water-energy nexus contribution to environmentally-related sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    24. Zeng, Lijun & Guo, Jiaqi & Wang, Bingcheng & Lv, Jun & Wang, Qin, 2019. "Analyzing sustainability of Chinese coal cities using a decision tree modeling approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    25. Agrawal, Nikhil & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Kumar, Amit, 2018. "The development of an integrated model for the assessment of water and GHG footprints for the power generation sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 558-575.
    26. Alasam Alzaabi, Mohammed S.M. & Mezher, Toufic, 2021. "Analyzing existing UAE national water, energy and food nexus related strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    27. James M. Murphy & David M. H. Sexton & David N. Barnett & Gareth S. Jones & Mark J. Webb & Matthew Collins & David A. Stainforth, 2004. "Quantification of modelling uncertainties in a large ensemble of climate change simulations," Nature, Nature, vol. 430(7001), pages 768-772, August.
    28. Ma, Wanglin & Zhou, Xiaoshi & Renwick, Alan, 2019. "Impact of off-farm income on household energy expenditures in China: Implications for rural energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 248-258.
    29. Feng, Taiwen & Sun, Linyan & Zhang, Ying, 2009. "The relationship between energy consumption structure, economic structure and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5475-5483, December.
    30. Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Liang, Sai & Su, Meirong & Yang, Zhifeng, 2019. "Critical review of the energy-water-carbon nexus in cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1017-1032.
    31. Basanth Kommadath & Runa Sarkar & Binayak Rath, 2012. "A Fuzzy Logic Based Approach to Assess Sustainable Development of the Mining and Minerals Sector," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(6), pages 386-399, November.
    32. Qian, Xiangyan & Wang, Di & Wang, Jia & Chen, Sai, 2021. "Resource curse, environmental regulation and transformation of coal-mining cities in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    33. Pan, Lingying & Liu, Pei & Ma, Linwei & Li, Zheng, 2012. "A supply chain based assessment of water issues in the coal industry in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 93-102.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zeng, Lijun & Wang, Jinfeng & Zhang, Jinshuo & Lv, Jun & Cui, Wei, 2020. "New Urbanization paths in mineral resource abundant regions in China: A three-dimensional cube framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Zeng, Lijun & Guo, Jiaqi & Wang, Bingcheng & Lv, Jun & Wang, Qin, 2019. "Analyzing sustainability of Chinese coal cities using a decision tree modeling approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Yachen Xie & Jiaguo Qi & Rui Zhang & Xiaomiao Jiao & Gabriela Shirkey & Shihua Ren, 2022. "Toward a Carbon-Neutral State: A Carbon–Energy–Water Nexus Perspective of China’s Coal Power Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Ahmad, Shakeel & Jia, Haifeng & Chen, Zhengxia & Li, Qian & Xu, Changqing, 2020. "Water-energy nexus and energy efficiency: A systematic analysis of urban water systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Wang, Xue-Chao & Jiang, Peng & Yang, Lan & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao, 2021. "Extended water-energy nexus contribution to environmentally-related sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    6. Meng, Fanxin & Wang, Dongfang & Meng, Xiaoyan & Li, Hui & Liu, Gengyuan & Yuan, Qiuling & Hu, Yuanchao & Zhang, Yi, 2022. "Mapping urban energy–water–land nexus within a multiscale economy: A case study of four megacities in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    7. Ana Luiza Fontenelle & Erik Nilsson & Ieda Geriberto Hidalgo & Cintia B. Uvo & Drielli Peyerl, 2022. "Temporal Understanding of the Water–Energy Nexus: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    8. Jin Zhang and David C. Broadstock, 2016. "The Causality between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth for China in a Time-varying Framework," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(China Spe).
    9. Rongrong Li & Xue-Ting Jiang, 2017. "Inequality of Carbon Intensity: Empirical Analysis of China 2000–2014," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-12, April.
    10. Long, Ruyin & Ren, Yuan & Wu, Meifen, 2022. "Differential decomposition of total-factor energy efficiency in Chinese coal mining cities considering environmental constraints: A dynamic and static perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Liu, Yitong & Chen, Bin & Wei, Wendong & Shao, Ling & Li, Zhi & Jiang, Weizhong & Chen, Guoqian, 2020. "Global water use associated with energy supply, demand and international trade of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    12. Ding, Tao & Liang, Liang & Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Min & Wei, Yuqi, 2020. "Water-energy nexus: The origin, development and prospect," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 419(C).
    13. Zhao, Lu-Tao & Liu, Zhao-Ting & Cheng, Lei, 2021. "How will China's coal industry develop in the future? A quantitative analysis with policy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    14. Wang, Xue-Chao & Yang, Lan & Wang, Yutao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Ouyang, Xiao & Dong, Xiaobin, 2022. "Imbalances in virtual energy transfer network of China and carbon emissions neutrality implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    15. Wang, Saige & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Unraveling energy–water nexus paths in urban agglomeration: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    16. Wang, Xue-Chao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao & Foley, Aoife & Huisingh, Donald & Guan, Dabo & Dong, Xiaobin & Varbanov, Petar Sabev, 2021. "Unsustainable imbalances and inequities in Carbon-Water-Energy flows across the EU27," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Shang, Yizi & Hei, Pengfei & Lu, Shibao & Shang, Ling & Li, Xiaofei & Wei, Yongping & Jia, Dongdong & Jiang, Dong & Ye, Yuntao & Gong, Jiaguo & Lei, Xiaohui & Hao, Mengmeng & Qiu, Yaqin & Liu, Jiahong, 2018. "China’s energy-water nexus: Assessing water conservation synergies of the total coal consumption cap strategy until 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 643-660.
    18. Wang, G.Y. & Li, Y.P. & Liu, J. & Huang, G.H. & Chen, L.R. & Yang, Y.J. & Gao, P.P., 2022. "A two-phase factorial input-output model for analyzing CO2-emission reduction pathway and strategy from multiple perspectives – A case study of Fujian province," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    19. Zhang, Qianxue & Liao, Hua & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Does one path fit all? An empirical study on the relationship between energy consumption and economic development for individual Chinese provinces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 527-543.
    20. Shen, Jijie & Yi, Peng & Zhang, Xumin & Yang, Yuantao & Fang, Jinzhu & Chi, Yuanying, 2023. "Can water conservation and energy conservation be promoted simultaneously in China?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:85:y:2023:i:pa:s0301420723005238. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.