Climate Change Research ›› 2022, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (3): 294-304.doi: 10.12006/j.issn.1673-1719.2021.274

Special Issue: “碳中和”目标下的关键节点——2035美丽中国低碳发展路径研究专栏

• Low carbon development path under the target of beautiful China 2035—a study of key milestone in carbon neutrality • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Water footprint analysis of electricity production in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region based on a hybrid LCA model and its changes under carbon neutralization target

YAN Shu-Qi1, LI Su-Mei1, LYU He1, CHEN Sha1(), LIU Ying-Ying1, WANG Hong-Tao2, LIU Hui-Zheng3, CHEN Qian-Li4   

  1. 1 Department of Environmental Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    2 China Quality Certification Center, Beijing 100070, China
    3 College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    4 College of Management, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
  • Received:2021-12-06 Revised:2022-01-13 Online:2022-05-30 Published:2022-04-29
  • Contact: CHEN Sha E-mail:chensha@bjut.edu.cn

Abstract:

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as a major region for power production in China, also has a severe scarcity of water resources. Water footprint is a widely used comprehensive indicator that quantifies one area’s water consumption in the electricity production and its impact on the water environment. This paper used a combined model based on input-output and life cycle analysis to quantitatively analyze Xinjiang’s water footprint of power production in 2012 and 2017, and also investigated the water footprint contribution departments of various power generation technologies. The findings revealed that the water footprint per unit of electricity generation in Xinjiang decreased from 4.26×10-3 m3/(kW∙h) to 3.08×10-3 m3/(kW∙h) from 2012 to 2017 due to the change of electricity production structure and technological innovation of thermal power generation. We also discovered that the indirect water footprints of coal power and hydropower were primarily from mining and heavy industry, accounting for 60.3% and 52.8%, respectively, after analyzing the water footprint contribution departments of different power generation technologies. When it came to wind power and photovoltaic power generation technology, heavy industry and light industry accounted for 38.1% and 56.0% of the indirect water footprints, respectively. Furthermore, the high proportion of renewable energy generation from 2017 to 2050 will reduce the unit water footprint of Xinjiang’s power production by 75%, according to the analysis of the changes in the water footprint influenced by the transformation of Xinjiang’s power structure under China’s carbon neutrality target.

Key words: Water footprint, Electricity production, Hybrid life cycle assessment (HLCA), Input-output analysis, Carbon neutrality

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