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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water-Energy Nexus".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 7642

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yurui Fan

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Brunel University, London, UK
Interests: water–energy–food nexus; water and environmental systems analysis; decision making; uncertainty; hydrological risk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Wendy Huang

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Interests: wastewater treatment; environmental systems analysis; water pollution; water resources management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The water–energy nexus refers to the interdependence between water and energy systems. The planning of the water–energy nexus is an essential task, especially under climate change. The impacts of climate change on the water–energy nexus are numerous and complex. Changes in precipitation patterns, temperature, and extreme weather events can affect both water and energy systems. For example, droughts can reduce water availability for energy generation, while heatwaves can reduce the efficiency of thermal power plants. On the other hand, energy systems, such as hydropower, can affect water availability for other uses. Consequently, integrated planning of water and energy systems is essential for sustainable socioeconomic development, especially under climate change. This involves considering the interdependencies between water and energy systems when planning infrastructure and policy. For example, planning for hydropower should consider the impacts on downstream water users, and planning for water supply should consider the energy required for treatment and distribution.

This Special Issues on planning of the water–energy nexus under climate change aims to explore new techniques/tools to aid decision makers in developing resilient and sustainable water and energy systems that can adapt to the challenges of climate change. What are new techniques in reflecting interdependence between water and energy systems? How do we generate sound water and energy management strategies under consideration of climate change and socioeconomic development? Are there appropriate approaches to reflect extensive uncertainties in the process of water and energy systems modeling and optimization? Case studies from a variety of water and energy nexus issues are also welcome.

Dr. Yurui Fan
Dr. Wendy Huang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

integrated resource planning
renewable energy
water availability
climate scenarios
system modeling
adaptation strategies
risk assessment
resilience planning

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3146 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Energy Consumption and CO₂ Emissions of the Water Supply Sector: A Seoul Metropolitan City (SMC) Case Study

by Li Li, Gyumin Lee and Doosun Kang

Water 2024, 16(3), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030479 - 31 Jan 2024

Viewed by 805

Abstract

A model that computes the per-unit process energy consumption, energy intensity, CO₂ emission, and CO₂ intensity of water treatment plants is developed. This model is used to estimate the total energy consumption of six water treatment plants in Seoul Metropolitan City (SMC), which is comprised 80–85% for finished water pumping, 6–10% for ozone disinfection, 2–4% for rapid mixing, and 1–3% for non-process loads. The model results are validated against actual data for 2020 and 2021. The net energy consumption considering renewable energy production and use is then calculated, and the corresponding level of CO₂ emissions is predicted. Four scenarios based on the projected water requirements for the year 2045 were evaluated as follows: increased energy efficiency in finished water pumping (Scenario 1), increased renewable energy production in water treatment plants (Scenario 2), increased energy efficiency in raw water pumping (Scenario 3), and reduced water supply per capita (Scenario 4). Compared to a baseline do-nothing scenario (Scenario 0), the net energy consumption is reduced by 3.57%, 2.61%, 3.42%, and 4.67% for Scenarios 1–4, respectively. Scenario 4, which is a water-driven approach, is best for reducing CO₂ emissions, while Scenario 1 and 3, which are energy-driven approaches, are more effective at reducing CO₂ intensity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change)

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25 pages, 2172 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water–Food Nexus System Management under Uncertainty through an Inexact Fuzzy Chance Constraint Programming Method

by Fengping Liu, Wei Li, Xu Wang, Yankun Zhang, Zhenyu Ding and Ye Xu

Water 2024, 16(2), 227; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16020227 - 09 Jan 2024

Viewed by 657

Abstract

This study discusses the planning of a regional-scale water–food nexus (WFN) system using an inexact fuzzy chance constraint programming (IFCCP) method. The IFCCP approach can handle uncertainties expressed as interval and fuzzy parameters, as well as the preferences of decision makers. An inexact fuzzy chance constraint programming-based water–food nexus (IFCCP-WFN) model has been developed for the City of Jinan with the consideration of various restrictions related to water and land availability, as well as food and vegetable demands. Solutions for the planting areas for different crops in different periods have been generated under the different preferences of decision makers. The water resource availability would be the priority factor affecting the WFN system under demanding conditions, in which wheat cultivation would be dominated by this factor under fuzzy confidence levels of 0.2 and 0.5, and the planting area of corn would be determined by this factor under high fuzzy confidence levels (e.g., 0.8). In addition, the reliability of irrigation would decrease with increasing fuzzy confidence levels under demanding conditions, limiting the planting areas for crops and leading to a decreasing trend of the system benefit. Adequate water resources would be available for irrigation under optimistic conditions, implying no significant contributions to the planting schemes. Nevertheless, increasing food loss rates would result in more planting areas to satisfy food requirements and thus a greater system benefit under advantageous conditions. Compared with the developed IFCCP-WFN model, the interval-linear-programming-based water–food nexus (ILP-WFN) model can merely reflect the lower and upper bounds of uncertain parameters and neglects the inherent distributional information within the fuzzy parameters. Thus, the ILP-WFN model is unable to reveal the inherent impacts of the fuzzy parameters on the resulting planting strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change)

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16 pages, 2914 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Impact of Emulsion on Mine Water Quality and Health Risk Assessment

by Youli Qiu, Yu Liu, Min Wu, Jie Li, Ruimin He, Chunming Hao, Xing Fan and Chaoxing Sun

Water 2023, 15(23), 4086; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15234086 - 24 Nov 2023

Viewed by 782

Abstract

The composition of emulsion is complex. In the process of coal mining, the emulsion required by the hydraulic equipment can enter the mine water through a variety of channels, thereby affecting the water quality of the mine. In this study, the mine water of a super large coal mine, Daliuta Coal Mine, was collected, and static and dynamic simulation tests were designed to analyze the changes in various water quality indicators of mine water containing different concentrations of emulsions over time. Furthermore, the health risk assessment model was applied to evaluate the health risks of hexavalent chromium (Cr⁶⁺) and chloride in mine water containing emulsions on different populations. The results indicate that the alkaline substances such as sodium castor oil in the emulsion can increase the pH value of mine water, but it is more obvious when the emulsion concentration is high. The mine water itself contains chloride and sulfate exceeding 300 and 400 mg/L, respectively, and the addition of emulsion under static conditions has little effect on them, while the amount of emulsion added under dynamic conditions reaches 20 mL/L, which has a significant impact. The emulsion contains a certain amount of Cr⁶⁺ and can affect the total dissolved solid content, total hardness, and other indicators of mine water through mechanisms such as adsorption, solubilization, and chemical precipitation. The calculation results of the health risk assessment model indicate that the excessive chloride in the mine water in the area poses a potential non-carcinogenic risk to all populations exposed to their environment. The health risk index of Cr⁶⁺ increases with the increase in emulsion content in mine water, and the potential non-carcinogenic risk is higher for children. Overall, emulsions can significantly deteriorate the quality of mine water. This research can provide a scientific theoretical basis for subsequent study of mine water pollutant treatment, water quality monitoring and management, and health risk assessment, thereby contributing to reducing the health risks it brings and protecting the safety of local groundwater quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change)

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17 pages, 2695 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multivariate Drought Risk Analysis for the Weihe River: Comparison between Parametric and Nonparametric Copula Methods

by Fengping Liu, Xu Wang, Yuhu Chang, Ye Xu, Yinan Zheng, Ning Sun and Wei Li

Water 2023, 15(18), 3283; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15183283 - 17 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1220

Abstract

This study analyzed the multivariate drought risks for the Wei River basin by characterizing the interdependence between the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). Both parametric and nonparametric copulas were adopted to quantify the dependence between the SPI and SPEI. The results indicated that the Gaussian copula demonstrated the best fit in most cases, while the nonparametric copula method showed superiority over the parametric models at only one out of eighteen meteorological stations. The joint return periods (T^OR, T^AND, and T^Kendall) were computed through copula modeling, providing valuable insights into the co-occurrence of extreme drought events. For the SPI and SPEI with a 50-year return period, the T^OR values range from 25.5 to 37.9 years, the T^AND values fluctuate between 73.4 and 1233 years, and the T^Kendall values range from 60.61 to 574.71 years, indicating a high correlation between the SPI and SPEI in the study area. The spatial analysis revealed varying patterns across the basin with some regions more prone to experiencing simultaneous drought conditions characterized by both the SPI and SPEI. Furthermore, our results indicated that the SPEI exhibited more severity in drought characterization than the SPI due to its consideration of temperature effects. The disparities in the spatial features of the SPI and SPEI underscore the importance of incorporating multiple meteorological factors for a comprehensive drought risk analysis. This research contributes to a better understanding of the drought patterns and their joint risks in the Wei River basin, offering valuable information for drought preparedness and water resource management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change)

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Review

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23 pages, 1921 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Biorefinery of Sewage Sludge: Overview of Possible Value-Added Products and Applicable Process Technologies

by Andrea G. Capodaglio

Water 2023, 15(6), 1195; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15061195 - 20 Mar 2023

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3712

Abstract

The disposal of excess biological sewage sludge from wastewater treatment is a growing environmental issue due to the vast quantities generated worldwide. For many years, sludge disposal has been considered an inevitable “nuisance” linked to the main task of wastewater treatment; recently, the issues relating to the presence of emerging pollutants in sludge have contributed to severe limitations on traditional disposal routes and increased process costs. As a consequence of the water industry’s approach to sustainability and circular economy principles, the investigation into options for sludge-embedded resource recovery has been increasing over time. Among these, the definition of biorefinery encompasses many processes used to process sewage sludge for biofuel and/or resource recovery. In addition to the “conventional” recovery of biogas and nutrients, biopolymers (PHAs and EPS), proteins, enzymes, biopesticides, and biofuels are among the “new” sludge extraction products that are being studied. Not all of the proposed technologies are, however, mature for industrial exploitation as yet. This paper presents an overview of possible product recovery from sludge biorefinery, with emphasis on recent developments, and on the benefits and limitations of applicable technologies for ensuring sustainability and environmental efficiency, through an analysis of the current literature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Planning of Water-Energy Nexus under Climate Change)

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