Benefits of infrastructure symbiosis between coal power and wastewater treatment

Yang Guo, Denise L. Mauzerall (), Yizheng Lyu, Wanqiu Hu, Jinping Tian and Lyujun Chen ()
Additional contact information
Yang Guo: Princeton University
Denise L. Mauzerall: Princeton University
Yizheng Lyu: Tsinghua University
Wanqiu Hu: Tsinghua University
Jinping Tian: Tsinghua University
Lyujun Chen: Tsinghua University

Nature Sustainability, 2022, vol. 5, issue 12, 1070-1079

Abstract: Abstract Symbiotic infrastructure systems facilitate deep decarbonization and efficient water use more than independent improvements in each type of infrastructure. Here we analyse strategies for bridging the coal power and wastewater treatment sectors in China by using sludge and reclaimed water from municipal wastewater treatment as alternative fuels and water sources for coal power generation. We develop a geodatabase covering ~2,400 coal-fired power plants and ~4,200 municipal wastewater treatment plants and conduct an integrated analysis using a customized optimization algorithm and life-cycle assessment. Such infrastructure symbiosis annually offers greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation of 8.6 Mt CO2 equivalent, equal to 29% and 0.28% of GHG emissions from the wastewater treatment and coal power sectors, respectively. The symbiosis annually conserves 3.0 billion m3 of freshwater, equal to 62% of freshwater consumption by the coal power sector, and provides annual cost savings of 7.5 (3.4–12) billion CNY. Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Guangdong contribute ~50% of GHG mitigation and ~60% of both freshwater conservation and cost savings due to the proximity of coal power and wastewater treatment plants. Approximately 80% of carbon, water and economic benefits can be achieved via 32% and 44% of all the plant-level linkages for sludge co-combustion and water reuse, respectively. Infrastructure symbiosis provides promising opportunities for both environmental and economic benefits. Policies to boost the establishment of energy–water infrastructure symbiosis would cost-effectively facilitate the achievement of China’s climate and water targets.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00963-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natsus:v:5:y:2022:i:12:d:10.1038_s41893-022-00963-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/natsustain/

DOI: 10.1038/s41893-022-00963-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Sustainability is currently edited by Monica Contestabile

More articles in Nature Sustainability from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().