Energy’s Thirst for Water in China

Cai, Beiming; Zhang, Fangfang; Bi, Jun; Zhang, Wenjing

doi:10.1021/es502655m

Cited by 76 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Currently, water shortage is the greatest problem in China, where the average water use per capita is 2200 m 3 [8]. The distribution of water resources in the country has exacerbated a water crisis in northwestern China [9]. The central government has set a target that the entire nation will be poverty-free in 2020, which would severely restrict water use [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

et al. 2018

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Abstract:Aiming to inspect the water use-related situation in the Heihe River Basin, we used a three-stage data envelopment analysis to examine agricultural water use efficiency (WUE) and related issues in the Heihe River Basin from 2004 to 2012. This method calculates technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE), and scale efficiency (SE). Results show that water use-related efficiency varies according to scale. TE and SE decreased in the study area, while PTE increased. This means that the effects of pure technology on improving overall technology are very limited, and scale adjustment is vitally important to the agricultural production area in the Heihe River Basin. The results provide recommendations for decision-makers to plan the efficient use of water resources in arid and semiarid areas; in addition, this method will contribute to calculations of water use-related efficiency.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

et al. 2018

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“…Moreover, it has been reported that the pattern of the monthly streamflow change due to damming is location-dependent [7,13,49,50]. In China, the accelerating development of economy increases the demand for energy and water resource, thus raising the need for the hydraulic engineering facilities, such as dams and reservoirs [51]. So far, most studies have focused on the impacts of large dams in large basins of China including Yangtze River and Yellow River [12,26,48,52,53].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrologic Alteration Associated with Dam Construction in a Medium-Sized Coastal Watershed of Southeast China

Zhang

Huang

2016

Water

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Sustainable water resource management requires dams operations that provide environmental flow to support the downstream riverine ecosystem. However, relatively little is known about the hydrologic impact of small and medium dams in the smaller basin in China. Flow duration curve, indicators of hydrologic alteration andrange of variability approach were coupled in this study to evaluate the pre-and post-impact hydrologic regimes associated with dam construction using 44 years of hydrologic data in the Jiulong River Watershed (JRW), a medium-sized coastal watershed of Southeast China, which suffered from intensive cascade damming. Results showed that the daily streamflow decreased in higher flow while daily streamflow increased in lower flow in both two reaches of the JRW. The dams in the North River tended to store more water while the dams in the West River tended to release more water. The mean daily streamflow increased during July to January while decreased during February to May after dam construction in both two reaches of the JRW. After dam construction, the monthly streamflow changed more significantly and higher variability of monthly streamflow exhibited in the West River than in the North River. The homeogenizing variability of monthly streamflow was observed in both two reaches of the JRW. The earlier occurrence time of extreme low streamflow event and later occurrence time of extreme high streamflow event exhibited after dams construction. The extreme low and high streamfow both decreased in the North River while both increased in the West River of the JRW. All of the indicators especially for the low pulse count (101.8%) and the low pulse duration (´62.1%) changed significantly in the North River. The high pulse count decreased by 37.1% in the West River and the count of low pulse increased abnormally in the North River. The high pulse duration in the post-impact period increased in the two reaches of JRW. The rise rate decreased by 26.9% and 61.0%,and number of reversals increased by 40.7% and 46.4% in the North River and West River, respectively. Suitable ranges of streamflow regime in terms of magnitude, rate, and frequency were further identified for environmental flow management in the North River and West River. This research advances our understanding of hydrologic impact of small and medium dams in the medium-sized basin in China.

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“…Therefore, this study considered their water use factors to be zero, which is also used in the previous studies of operational water use for electricity generation in China [20,36], the United States [6], the United Kingdom [5], India [16] and globally [15]. For hydropower generation, water is consumed through evaporation from a reservoir's surface.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Future Water Use for Electricity Generation under Different Energy Development Scenarios in China

Lin

Chen

2017

Sustainability

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Water scarcity and uneven water demand in regional electricity generation pose substantial challenges to the sustainable development of water resources and electricity production in China. Based on the latest official policy of China's electricity development, i.e., the 13th Five-Year Plan of electricity development, this study quantified annual water withdrawal and consumption for future electricity generation in China from 2015 to 2030. This study simulated a three-prong approach to impacting water use for electricity development, i.e., updating the cooling technology mix, increasing non-thermal power generation and relocating thermal power plants to the west. The results showed that solutions to relieve water stress caused by electricity production entail major trade-offs. Annual water withdrawal and consumption were projected to exceed 63.75 and 8.30 billion m 3 by 2030, up approximately 14% and 21% of those in 2015, respectively, if China does not implement any new water and energy policies. Replacing once-through cooling systems with closed-loop cooling systems would decrease national water withdrawal remarkably but increase water consumption. The west-centered spatial distribution of thermoelectric power generation would reduce water use at the national level; however, it will largely increase water stress in northern and northwestern China. Thus, relieving the stress of growing electricity demand on water resources in China requires comprehensive measures and quantitative estimates.

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Energy’s Thirst for Water in China

Cited by 76 publications

References 23 publications

Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

Hydrologic Alteration Associated with Dam Construction in a Medium-Sized Coastal Watershed of Southeast China

Evaluation of Future Water Use for Electricity Generation under Different Energy Development Scenarios in China

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