Evaluation of virtual water trade in the Yellow River Delta, China

Zhang, Fan; Gui, Jin; Li, Gang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147285

Cited by 51 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Further, agriculture and light industries were the primary regions of virtual water inter-regional trade. It is consistent with the study by Zhang et al 53 , Li et al 54 , and Zhang et al 55 , who showed that the main virtual water sectors and the Yellow River will still be under pressure of water usage in future. The complete water use coefficients of the two sectors in 2017 were 294.55 and 94.54 m 3 /million yuan, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Optimal water resource allocation considering virtual water trade in the Yellow River Basin

Wang,

2024

Sci Rep

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Water can be redistributed physically and virtually. We explored water allocation optimization to mitigate water stresses by constructing a physical–virtual dual water system and optimizing the 1987 Yellow River water allocation scheme. We calculated the virtual water volume, identified the virtual in-basin, out-of-basin, and export water volumes, and compared the total regional water demand (i.e., combined physical and virtual water volumes) with regional water planetary boundaries to optimize basin water allocation schemes. Virtual water accounted for > 90% of the total regional demands, whereas physical flows did not significantly impact them. Moreover, allocation quotas for Qinghai and Inner Mongolia should be reduced by 0.113 and 1.005 billion m3, respectively, for sustainability. Furthermore, improving the efficiency of water-intensive sectors and limiting virtual water outflows from heavy industry to out-of-basin sectors are vital to water intensification. Increased attention should be directed toward physical–virtual water demands than the current focus on supply-oriented water allocation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Optimal water resource allocation considering virtual water trade in the Yellow River Basin

Wang,

2024

Sci Rep

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“…The concept of "virtual water" was initially proposed by Allan (1993) to refer to the water 'embodied' in a product, not in a real sense but in a virtual sense [9]. Based on this concept, many studies refer to "virtual water" as the water embedded in goods to describe the amount of water consumed during the production or manufacturing process of a commodity [10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is defined from the production side and is rooted in regional economic systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Initial Water Rights Allocation Coupled with Physical and Virtual Water Resources

Xu,

Yuan,

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Virtual water exerts an indispensable influence on water resources, yet the existing studies on the water rights allocation of transboundary rivers hardly consider virtual water transfer (VWT). Therefore, in this paper, we used Taihu Lake as an example with data collected in 2017 that described both physical and virtual water use. We used these data to evaluate water rights allocation schemes by coupling virtual and physical water use. In order to achieve this goal, we first determined the physical water rights allocated for the four regions connected to the Basin. Next, we employed the multi-regional input–output (MRIO) approach to calculate the VWT among the four regions; then, we converted the VWT to the riparian level via the water efficiency coefficient. Finally, with virtual water included in the physical water rights allocation, we formulated a final water rights allocation for Taihu Lake. The results showed the following findings: (1) The ranking of the amount of physical water rights allocation is: Jiangsu > Zhejiang > Shanghai > Anhui. (2) Anhui and Jiangsu produce a net export of virtual water (2.259 billion m3 and 1.78 billion m3, respectively), while Zhejiang and Shanghai have a net import of virtual water (2.344 billion m3 and 1.695 billion m3, respectively), indicating that Anhui houses more water-consuming industries and is in greater need of economic restructuring. (3) The integration of virtual water makes a difference: Jiangsu achieved 16.208 billion m3 in terms of the amount of water rights allocated, Zhejiang achieved 6.606 billion m3, Shanghai achieved 3.040 billion m3, and Anhui achieved 4.319 billion m3, with a ranking of Jiangsu > Zhejiang > Anhui > Shanghai. The results detailed above prove that virtual water exerts an indispensable influence, and integrating virtual water can make the physical water rights allocation of transboundary rivers more equal and reasonable.

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“…Considering the research perspectives on virtual water trade, previous studies have separately analysed the virtual water resource flow and environmental element transfer vision. The virtual water flow vision mainly considers the spatial and temporal variations in the virtual water flow among regions (Tian et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2021), driving factors of virtual water flow (Qian et al, 2020; Xia et al, 2022) and virtual water flow impact assessment (Yin et al, 2021; Zhai et al, 2021). Some scholars recognize that optimizing the industrial structure can alleviate the water shortage caused by virtual water flow (An et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2021); the transfer of virtual water environmental factor focuses on the water environmental element flow assessment, including nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) (Elrys et al, 2021; Oita et al, 2020) and the spatiotemporal effects and influencing factors of the N footprint (Chen et al, 2020; Liu & Nie, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling Chinese industrial structure optimization paths within Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership considering the virtual trade of water and water pollutants

Shu

Shao

Xiang

et al. 2023

Water & Environment J

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Massive commodity transactions lead to enormous virtual water and water pollution transfer; this phenomenon will be intensified within the process of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) enforcement. This study applied multi‐regional input–output and scenario simulation approach to reveal the virtual water elements flow, while exploring the trade structure optimisation roadmap for China. Results unveiled that China was a virtual water net exporter (9.17 billion tons), also the largest importer of water pollutants (N 622456 tons and P 136110 tons) among RCEP countries in 2015. In order to alleviate the water pressure in China, the textiles and other manufacturing industries should be limited, while the service industry is encouraged. Optimal scenario can realize 29.8% water conservation and 8% water pollutants reduction and also achieve a 36.5 million dollars trade volume increase. This research improves trade‐off balance between water environment and economy at multi‐regional level and accelerates green trade in economic partnerships globally.

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Evaluation of virtual water trade in the Yellow River Delta, China

Cited by 51 publications

References 15 publications

Optimal water resource allocation considering virtual water trade in the Yellow River Basin

Optimal water resource allocation considering virtual water trade in the Yellow River Basin

A Study of Initial Water Rights Allocation Coupled with Physical and Virtual Water Resources

Unravelling Chinese industrial structure optimization paths within Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership considering the virtual trade of water and water pollutants

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