The impact of virtual water trade on urban water scarcity: A nested MRIO analysis of Yangtze River Delta cities in China

Zhu, Mingming; Wang, Jigan; Zhang, Jie; Xing, Zhencheng

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135165

Cited by 18 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The table is divided into 313 regions (including 309 prefecture-level administrative units and 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government), each of which contains 42 sectors. The data set has been widely used to calculate carbon emissions 52 and virtual water 53 in China.…”

Section: Redmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Losses from Water Scarcity and Benefits of Water Conservation Measures to Intercity Supply Chains in China

She,

Chen,

Zhou

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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The severe water scarcity in China poses significant economic risks to its agriculture, energy, and manufacturing sectors, which can have a cascading effect through the supply chains. Current research has assessed water scarcity losses for global countries and Chinese provinces by using the water scarcity risk (WSR) method. However, this method involves subjective functions and parameter settings, and it fails to capture the adaptive behaviors of economies to water scarcity, compromising the reliability of quantified water scarcity loss. There is a pressing need for a new method to assess losses related to water scarcity. Here, we develop an agent-based complex network model to estimate the inter-regional and intersectoral impacts of water scarcity on both cities and basins. Subsequently, we evaluate the supply chain-wide economic benefits of four different water conservation measures as stipulated by the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a Water-Saving Society. These measures include increasing the utilization rate of recycled water in water-scarce cities, reducing the national water consumption per industrial value-added, and implementing agricultural and residential water conservation measures. Results show that direct losses constitute only 9% of the total losses from water scarcity. Approximately 37% of the losses can be attributed to interregional impacts. Among the water-scarce cities, Qingdao, Lanzhou, Jinan, and Zhengzhou pose a significant threat to China's supply chains. Agricultural water conservation yields the highest amount of water savings and economic benefits, while residential water conservation provides the highest economic benefit per unit of water saved. The results provide insights into managing water scarcity, promoting cross-regional cooperation, and mitigating economic impacts.

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Section: Redmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Losses from Water Scarcity and Benefits of Water Conservation Measures to Intercity Supply Chains in China

She,

Chen,

Zhou

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This shortage of water has become an important bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of China's economy. 27 As cities are the basic administrative units for water and energy policy, 28−30 city-level studies can provide detailed information for energy and water management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is important as around two-thirds of China’s cities are threatened by water shortages and a quarter of cities face serious water shortages. This shortage of water has become an important bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of China’s economy . As cities are the basic administrative units for water and energy policy, − city-level studies can provide detailed information for energy and water management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Water Embodied in Interregional Energy Trade in China: A City-Level Analysis

Jin,

Feng,

Yuan

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Large volumes of water are used in energy production for both primary (e.g., fuel extraction) and secondary energy (e.g., electricity). In countries such as China, with a large internal trade in fuels and long-distance transmission grids, this can result in considerable water inequalities. Previous research focused on the water impacts of energy production at the national and provincial levels, which is too coarse to identify the spatial differences and make specific case studies. Here, we take the next step toward a spatially explicit economically integrated water-use for energy assessment by combining a bottom-up assessment approach with a city-level multiregional input−output model. Specifically, we examine the water consumption of energy production in China, distinguishing between water for primary and secondary energy at the level of coal mines, oil and gas fields, and power plants for the first time. Of the total energy-related freshwater consumption of 4.9 Gm 3 in 2017, primary energy accounted for 19% (940 Mm 3 ) and secondary energy accounted for 81% (3955 Mm 3 ). Coal was the largest water consumer for both primary and secondary energy (540 and 3880 Mm 3 , respectively), with both oil (361, and 0.5 Mm 3 , respectively) and gas (7 and 69 Mm 3 , respectively) also consuming large amounts. Intercity virtual water, that is, water embodied in energy trade across cities, reached 54% (2.6 Gm 3 ) of energy-related freshwater consumption. Across China, 32% of cities see a bilateral trade in secondary-and primary-energy-related virtual water (e.g., Daqing city exports virtual water embodied in primary fuel to other cities that is then used to produce electricity in those cities, part of which is used back in Daqing via transmission). For these 32% of cities, 73% export more virtual water than import and 27% import more virtual water than export. This study reveals significant differences in city-level virtual water patterns (e.g., scale and direction) between primary and secondary energy to provide information for cities about their virtual water inflow and outflow and the potential collaboration partners for water management.

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A BPNN-based ecologically extended input–output model for virtual water metabolism network management of Kazakhstan

Liu

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The impact of virtual water trade on urban water scarcity: A nested MRIO analysis of Yangtze River Delta cities in China

Cited by 18 publications

References 64 publications

Evaluating Losses from Water Scarcity and Benefits of Water Conservation Measures to Intercity Supply Chains in China

Evaluating Losses from Water Scarcity and Benefits of Water Conservation Measures to Intercity Supply Chains in China

Virtual Water Embodied in Interregional Energy Trade in China: A City-Level Analysis

A BPNN-based ecologically extended input–output model for virtual water metabolism network management of Kazakhstan

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