IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i9p3529-d1381187.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimization of the Water–Energy–Carbon Nexus in the Residential Water Uses of Shanghai, China

Author

Listed:
  • Jianyu Zhou

    (Zhejiang University—University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Institute, International Campus, Zhejiang University, Haining 314400, China)

  • Tingju Zhu

    (Zhejiang University—University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Institute, International Campus, Zhejiang University, Haining 314400, China)

Abstract

Residential water use in urban areas directly affects household energy consumption and associated carbon emissions. Reducing residential water use through water saving can lead to substantial energy saving and lower carbon emissions. Household choices in water appliances and fixtures and water-use behaviors shape water consumption patterns. This paper presents a study in Shanghai, China, where the water consumption structure of households was analyzed through a comprehensive survey. In addition, a season-differentiated water–energy–carbon nexus optimization model with Monte Carlo simulation was built to minimize the costs associated with water and energy usage while maximizing carbon emission reduction. The survey data revealed Shanghai’s water demand structure, thereby highlighting the water-use influence in the city on urban household energy consumption and carbon emissions, which are affected by seasonal temperature variations. The results provide useful insights into the intricate relationships among water use, energy consumption, and carbon emissions at the scale of urban households.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianyu Zhou & Tingju Zhu, 2024. "Optimization of the Water–Energy–Carbon Nexus in the Residential Water Uses of Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3529-:d:1381187
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3529/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3529/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Shaoqing & Chen, Bin, 2016. "Urban energy–water nexus: A network perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 905-914.
    2. 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.
    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. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. Schlör, Holger & Venghaus, Sandra & Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich, 2018. "The FEW-Nexus city index – Measuring urban resilience," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 382-392.
    4. B. M. Ruhul Amin & Rakibuzzaman Shah & Suryani Lim & Tanveer Choudhury & Andrew Barton, 2025. "Characterization of Energy Profile and Load Flexibility in Regional Water Utilities for Cost Reduction and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-25, April.
    5. Colton Brehm & Astrid Layton, 2021. "Nestedness of eco‐industrial networks: Exploring linkage distribution to promote sustainable industrial growth," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 205-218, February.
    6. Panyam, Varuneswara & Huang, Hao & Davis, Katherine & Layton, Astrid, 2019. "Bio-inspired design for robust power grid networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    7. 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.
    8. Tsolas, Spyridon D. & Karim, M. Nazmul & Hasan, M.M. Faruque, 2018. "Optimization of water-energy nexus: A network representation-based graphical approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 230-250.
    9. Zigao He, 2023. "The Water–Energy–Carbon Coupling Coordination Level in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Liang Li & Ying Xiang & Xinyue Fan & Qinxiang Wang & Yang Wei, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Agricultural Production Efficiency in Sichuan Province from the Perspective of “Water–Land–Energy–Carbon” Coupling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, October.
    11. Chen, Zi-yue & Huang, Zhen-hai & Nie, Pu-yan, 2018. "Industrial characteristics and consumption efficiency from a nexus perspective – Based on Anhui’s Empirical Statistics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 281-290.
    12. Chen, Shaoqing & Chen, Bin, 2017. "Coupling of carbon and energy flows in cities: A meta-analysis and nexus modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 774-783.
    13. Nawab, Asim & Liu, Gengyuan & Meng, Fanxin & Hao, Yan & Zhang, Yan, 2019. "Urban energy-water nexus: Spatial and inter-sectoral analysis in a multi-scale economy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 403(C), pages 44-56.
    14. D’Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Gastaldi, Massimo & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "The economic viability of photovoltaic systems in public buildings: Evidence from Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    15. Chen, Guangwu & Zhu, Yuhan & Wiedmann, Thomas & Yao, Lina & Xu, Lixiao & Wang, Yafei, 2019. "Urban-rural disparities of household energy requirements and influence factors in China: Classification tree models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1321-1335.
    16. Hipólito-Valencia, Brígido J. & Mosqueda-Jiménez, Francisco Waldemar & Barajas-Fernández, Juan & Ponce-Ortega, José M., 2021. "Incorporating a seawater desalination scheme in the optimal water use in agricultural activities," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    17. Zhao, Yuhuan & Shi, Qiaoling & li, Hao & Qian, Zhiling & Zheng, Lu & Wang, Song & He, Yizhang, 2022. "Simulating the economic and environmental effects of integrated policies in energy-carbon-water nexus of China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PA).
    18. Wang, Xipan & Song, Junnian & Xing, Jiahao & Duan, Haiyan & Wang, Xian'en, 2022. "System nexus consolidates coupling of regional water and energy efficiencies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    19. Wu, X.D. & Chen, G.Q., 2017. "Energy and water nexus in power generation: The surprisingly high amount of industrial water use induced by solar power infrastructure in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 125-136.
    20. Shaikh, Mohammad A. & Kucukvar, Murat & Onat, Nuri Cihat & Kirkil, Gokhan, 2017. "A framework for water and carbon footprint analysis of national electricity production scenarios," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 406-421.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3529-:d:1381187. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.