Billion kWh Of Energy Research Articles

Water–energy nexus of the Eastern Route of China's South-to-North Water Transfer Project

Abstract This article investigates the energy intensity and related impacts of the Eastern Route of China's South-North Water Transfer Project, based on the concept of the water–energy nexus. It finds that from November 2013 to May 2017 a total of 2.35 billion kWh of energy was consumed to transfer 15.5 billion m3 water driven by a large-scale system of pumping stations. This energy production required 7.4 million m3 of virtual water and emitted 1.93 MtCO2e of carbon. An average water–energy nexus ratio of 0.05% indicates that transferring 100 m3 of water consumes 0.05 m3 of virtual water due to the electricity consumption of the Eastern Route's pumping stations. It is estimated that to transfer 7.3 billion m3 water by 2030, this mega project will consume 1.35 billion kWh of energy, 4.6 million m3 of virtual water and emit 0.94 MtCO2e of carbon. These findings and scenario analysis demonstrate that strategies are needed for mitigating the energy intensity of the Eastern Route, such as improved pumping efficiency, reduced water loss during water delivery, decreased water quotas, and promotion of other, less carbon-intensive water sources in destination provinces.

Critical success factors for embedding carbon management in organizations: lessons from the UK higher education sector

ABSTRACTOrganizations are under increasing pressure from governments and stakeholders to reduce carbon emissions from their business operations for climate change mitigation. Universities are not exempt from this challenge and are operating in a complex external environment, not least responding to the UK government's Climate Change Act 2008 (80% carbon reductions by 2050 as per 1990 baseline). In 2012–2013, the UK Higher Education (HE) sector consumed 7.9 billion kWh of energy and produced 2.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions. This indicates the scale of the challenge and carbon management is central to reduce carbon emissions. However, effective processes for implementing and embedding carbon management in organizations in general, and universities in particular, have yet to be realized. This paper explores the critical success factors (CSFs) for embedding carbon management in universities and, more widely, in organizations. This exploratory study adopted a mixed-methods approach including the content analysis of universities' carbon management plans alongside semi-structured interviews in the UK HE sector. The paper identifies six key factors for successfully embedding carbon management that are pertinent not just for the HE sector, but to organizations broadly: senior management leadership; funding and resources; stakeholder engagement; planning; governance and management; and evaluation and reporting.