Water Degradation by China’s Fossil Fuels Production: A Life Cycle Assessment Based on an Input–Output Model

Yuqi Su, Yi Liang, Li Chai, Zixuan Han, Sai Ma, Jiaxuan Lyu, Zhiping Li and Liu Yang
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Yuqi Su: College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Yi Liang: College of Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Li Chai: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Zixuan Han: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Sai Ma: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Jiaxuan Lyu: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Zhiping Li: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Liu Yang: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: Fossil energy production not only aggravates water depletion but also severely contaminates water resources. This study employed a mixed-unit input–output model to give a life cycle assessment of national average water degradation in production of common types of fossil fuels in China. The results show that the amount of grey water generated is much more than that of consumptive and withdrawn water in all cases. Although there is a high discharge amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in fossil fuel production, the pollutants of petroleum (PE) and volatile phenols (VP) require more dilution water than COD. PE is the greatest contributor to water degradation caused by primary fossil fuels, while VP pollution is prominent in production of upgraded fossil fuels. Basically, the main causes of water degradation, PE and VP discharge, occurs at coal mines, oil fields, refinery plants, and coking factories, rather than in the upstream sectors. A scenario analysis showed that water pollution can be significantly reduced if VP discharge in the coking process is controlled to be at the standard concentration. PE requires a standard withalower discharge concentration in order to further mitigate water pollution in production of fossil fuels. The coal production industry has a much lower pollutant removal rate but spends more on wastewater treatment, up to 12% of its profit. The other fossil fuel industries have high removal rates of PE and VP (97%–99%) and thus demand technological renovation to further remove those pollutants at a low concentration.

Keywords: water pollution; input–output analysis; grey water; fossil fuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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