Analyzing the Energy Consumption, GHG Emission, and Cost of Seawater Desalination in China

Xuexiu Jia, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, Petar Sabev Varbanov and Sharifah Rafidah Wan Alwi
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Xuexiu Jia: Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory—SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2,616 00, Brno, Czech Republic
Jiří Jaromír Klemeš: Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory—SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2,616 00, Brno, Czech Republic
Petar Sabev Varbanov: Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory—SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2,616 00, Brno, Czech Republic
Sharifah Rafidah Wan Alwi: Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT), Research Institute for Sustainable Environment and School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Seawater desalination is considered a technique with high water supply potential and has become an emerging alternative for freshwater supply in China. The increase of the capacity also increases energy consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, which has not been well investigated in studies. This study has analyzed the current development of seawater desalination in China, including the capacity, distribution, processes, as well as the desalted water use. Energy consumption and GHG emissions of overall desalination in China, as well as for the provinces, are calculated covering the period of 2006–2016. The unit product cost of seawater desalination plants specifying processes is also estimated. The results showed that 1) The installed capacity maintained increased from 2006 to 2016, and reverse osmosis is the major process used for seawater desalination in China. 2) The energy consumption increased from 81 MWh/y to 1,561 MWh/y during the 11 years. The overall GHG emission increase from 85 Mt CO 2eq /y to 1,628 Mt CO 2eq /y. Tianjin had the largest GHG emissions, following are Hebei and Shandong, with emissions of 4.1 Mt CO 2eq /y, 2.2 Mt CO 2eq /y. and 1.0 Mt CO 2eq /y. 3) The unit product cost of seawater desalination is higher than other water supply alternatives, and it differentiates the desalination processes. The average unit product cost of the reverse osmosis process is 0.96 USD and 2.5 USD for the multiple-effect distillation process. The potential for future works should specify different energy forms, e.g. heat and power. Alternatives of process integration should be investigated—e.g. efficiency of using the energy, heat integration, and renewables in water desalination, as well as the utilization of total site heat integration.

Keywords: water desalination; water supply; water shortage; energy demand; environmental impacts; specific energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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