The Water Footprint Assessment And Virtual Water Flow Pattern Of The Major Energy Products In China

With the development of economic and society,the demand of energy is increasing.And due to the insufficient supply of fresh water,the contradiction between energy and food has become more prominent.The relationship between water resources,energy and food has gradually become a hotspot of global research.This study studies the relationships between water resource and energy.At present,water resources-energy relationship research lacks water-energy space-time adaptability analysis,and the calculation method of water consumption in the whole industry chain of energy products is not mature.This study introduces water footprint and virtual water calculation methods to deconstruct the water footprint of coal products,thermal power products and oil and gas products,and identifies the different types of water resources constraints of the 31 provinces.Besides,this study analyzes the virtual water flow law to reveal the flow path of the value water resources,and provides a scientific basis for the implementation of water compensation and water-efficient utilization management in poor areas.The main research results are as follows:(1)Using the life cycle water footprint assessment method establishes the methods to calculate the water footprint of coal products,thermal power products and oil and gas products.This paper calculates the water footprint of the three major energy products in the seven regions divided by 31 provinces from 2000 to 2015.The results show that except for the South China,the coal mining and washing water footprints in other regions show a trend of rising and then decreasing.The thermal power generation footprints of the seven regions shows a trend of rising and then decreasing,and peaked around 2012;the crude oil and natural gas are more restricted by regions,and the trends of crude oil and natural gas water footprint are different.(2)Calculating the flow pattern of energy products along with coal trade,thermal power trade,oil and gas trade,the basic principle of virtual water transfer is to optimize the transportation distance cost based on the planning route of coal and electricity delivery.The specific results are as follows: In general,coal,electricity,and oil and natural gas generally flow from the central and western regions to the eastern and southern regions.Therefore,the virtual water flow of the energy products mainly transfers from the areas with abundant water resources to the scarce water areas.(3)This study calculates the virtual water flow pattern of China through 2000-2015,then calculates the virtual water outflows.As the main output area of China,Shanxi,Inner Mongolia,Shanxi and Guizhou output lots of coal production,the virtual water outflows of the coal production is relatively high,accounting for 92% of the total virtual water outflows;Inner Mongolia,Yunnan,Guizhou,Shanxi,and Anhui have higher virtual water outflows for thermal power generation,accounting 70% for the total virtual water outflows.The provinces which output virtual water of the oil and gas was Heilongjiang,Liaoning,Jilin,Inner Mongolia,Ningxia,Qinghai,Shaanxi,Shanxi,Tianjin and Xinjiang which located in arid and semi-arid regions of northern China,and they account for 64% of the total virtual water outflows.(4)Through the research of the virtual water outflows,combined with the “three red lines” management system of China's water resources,a new evaluation index MWSI for water resources was developed,and the industrial products of various provinces were calculated.MWSI has developed a set of evaluation systems for evaluating MWSI levels.The final results show that Anhui,Fujian,Hubei,Jiangsu and Chongqing in the south area have less water stress and abundant water resources;in the north area,Heilongjiang,Shanxi,Shaanxi,Inner Mongolia and Ningxia have greater pressure on water resources and lack of water resources,water resources-energy is seriously mismatched.