Industrial Water Consumption Research Articles

An integrated simulation-optimization modeling approach for coupled risk management of blue water and green water under changing environmental conditions

Due to the impact of global climate change and land use changes, the spatiotemporal distribution and water cycle processes of watershed water resources are affected. In order to sustainably manage watershed water resources, it is necessary to accurately assess the available water volume to meet the coordinated management of the watershed's socio-economic subsystem and eco-environment subsystem. The amount of Bluewater resources (BW) is closely related to the amount of Greenwater resources (GW). BW is directly related to human consumption in the socio-economic subsystem, while GW is used to maintain the health of the ecosystem. A method called the integrated simulation-optimization modeling system (ISOMS) was developed to evaluate adaptive strategies for dealing with the combined effects of climate change and land-use changes. ISOMS not only predicts future hydrological trends under varying environmental conditions but also generates comprehensive risk management plans that incorporate different types of uncertainties, including random and fuzzy factors. The Copula function is introduced to handle the interaction between available BW and available GW. The results showed that: (i) uncertainties in the hydrologic system could result in alterations to the distribution of water resources; (ii) system benefits are, to some extent, affected by land use change and climate change; (iii) the shortage of BW is affected by the level of risk, and the joint risk increases, resulting in an increase in water scarcity; (iv) the planned annual agricultural water consumption is the highest, followed by domestic water consumption, and industrial water consumption is the lowest. Through the results of the model operation, the joint risk assessment and adaptive management of BW and GW in the East River Basin (ERB) under changing environments, as well as the BW allocation plan, are obtained to provide support for scientific and reasonable resource collaborative decision-making and promote the synchronized advancement of the socio-economic subsystem and eco-environment subsystem in the ERB.

Industrial water consumption index: A new bridge between water consumption and socioeconomic development

Regional water consumption is closely linked to socioeconomic development trends; however, studies that analyze and evaluate socioeconomic development trends based on water consumption data are lacking. This study established a new general index, the industrial water consumption index (IWCI), using several variables from water consumption data through the entropy weight method and tested the index in Jiaxing City, China. The results showed that the relationship between water consumption and socioeconomic development varied depending on different industrial divisions. The IWCI, established based on water consumption data was highly sensitive to changes in socioeconomic development, especially rapid changes. Compared to the raw water consumption data, the IWCI presented a better performance in evaluation indicators for the selected several divisions, with a Pearson correlation coefficient ranging from 0.70 to 0.85 and a normalized mutual information ranging from 0.31 to 0.45. Overall, the IWCI provides an effective way to evaluate socioeconomic development trends by relying solely on water consumption data, particularly for industrial divisions where water plays an important role in production. The index allows managers to quickly assess and analyze socioeconomic development trends and develop corresponding response measures.

System dynamic model of water, energy and food nexus for policy implementation

In this study, a spatiotemporal disaggregated simulation model was developed based on water–food–energy (WFE) nexus approach to assess water and food supply security considering ecosystem provisioning services. The main components of the developed model in this study (SD-WFE model) are population, water, agriculture, and energy modules. The model, which was developed using system dynamics (SD) approach, was utilized to simulate effectiveness of sectoral municipal, industrial, and agricultural water and energy consumption management and environmental protection policies in improving ecosystem provisioning services during a 20-year period. Through sensitivity analysis utilizing the Monte Carlo model, the study addresses the formulation of sustainable water resource policies across four main categories: water demand management, water supply management, food resource management, and energy resource demand management. Additionally, it explores the integration of policies within an optimal framework. The simulation of proposed solutions revealed that a combination of water demand management and food resource management yielded the most promising outcome. Specifically, the recommended solution entails enhancing water irrigation efficiency by 18% through the expansion of pressurized irrigation network coverage, adjusting cropping patterns by 14%, reducing agricultural product losses by 8% via improved food supply management, minimizing food demand by 9% due to reduced food consumption losses, and achieving an annual 10% increase in crop performance. These selected policies form the foundation for sustainable water resource management strategies.

The Priority of Water Consumption in the Spanish Tourism Industry: A Dilemma for Residents and Researchers

Spain is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. Regional governments face the challenge of ensuring long-term water security for residents and tourists. In 2024, Catalonia declared a state of emergency to tackle the problem of a lack of water. Catalonia and Andalusia regions imposed water restrictions, prohibiting residents from washing the exterior of their houses and cars or filling their swimming pools to guarantee tourism activities in hotels and other tourism companies. The research objective of the present study is to tackle the priority of water consumption in the Spanish tourism industry so that the availability of water is guaranteed for residents, without constraints on the supply. This research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain a comprehensive view of the water consumption in Spain’s territory and the main zones of water scarcity that are affecting residents and the tourism industry. In addition, this study uses the Web of Science (WoS) database to analyse the bibliometrics on the topic of water consumption in the tourism industry from 2000 to 2023, as well as quantify the number of articles published by researchers. Findings reveal that although the tourism industry is the economic engine of Spain, water consumption by tourists is above the level of consumption of residents, and this asymmetrical situation should be reversed in favour of the welfare of Spanish citizens. It is noteworthy that the water scarcity in Spain and its continuing restrictions in the Andalusian and Catalonian regions have caused huge problems with drinking water supply in the last few years. Indeed, local and regional Spanish governments cannot demand that a resident consume 133 L per day, while a tourist is allowed to consume between 400 and 1000 L per day. For this reason, water availability must be a priority for residents and, especially, for the tourism industry. Economic interests cannot override citizens’ needs and well-being. This research has helped us better understand the complex relationships between the use of water in the tourism industry and by residents in the context of climate change.

Sustainable Water Resources Management through Disaggregated Multi-Region Virtual Water Flow and Interaction Analysis

Virtual water transfer is considered as an important pathway to alleviate water shortage in arid regions due to limited water resources and unbalanced distribution. It is essential to explore the hidden mechanism of virtual water transfers among multiple regions to support future water resources allocation and management. In this study, a Disaggregated Multi-Region Virtual Water Flow and Interaction (DrWIn) model is developed to facilitate the analysis of virtual water inflow, outflow, transfer balance, and the related interactions. In addition, a factorial analysis is integrated to quantify the impacts of industrial water consumption and their interactive effects. A special case study of China is conducted to illustrate the applicability and superiority of the DrWIn model. It is found that interaction effects of any two industries are negative, indicating that high freshwater consumption in two industries is not the best choice. The obtained results provide a solid scientific basis for identifying the key industries and regions across a multi-region study system and supporting water resources utilization management in the future.

Vinasse treated with charcoal as a molasses diluent for ethanol fermentation.

The demand for new products derived from agro-industrial residues has increased recently. Furthermore, vinasse, a wastewater from ethanol production, needs treatment to be reused in the sugarcane industry, reducing industrial water consumption. This study performed vinasse filtration with charcoal from industrial sugarcane residues and used filtered molasses dilution in ethanolic fermentation. There were five treatments in randomized blocks with three repetitions. The treatments included deionized water and natural vinasse as positive and negative controls, respectively, and filtered vinasse from charcoal made from bamboo, sugarcane bagasse, and straw. Hence, fermentation for ethanol production was performed. Compared with natural vinasse, filtered vinasse with all types of charcoal showed lower soluble solids, total residual reducing sugars, higher ethanol concentrations, and greater fermentative efficiency. Filtered vinasse from bagasse and straw charcoals had efficiencies of 81.14% and 77.98%, respectively, in terms of ethanol production, which are close to those of deionized water (81.49%). In a hypothetical industry, vinasse charcoal filtration and charcoal regeneration should prevent 84.12% of water consumption from environmental resources. This process is feasible because it uses a product of sugarcane residue to treat wastewater and reduce industrial water consumption and vinasse disposal.

The study on spatial distribution of water ecological environment carrying capacity during extreme drought conditions

Due to global warming and the disturbance of the interannual variability of precipitation, the frequency of extreme drought events has increased. The impact of global climate change on water resources is becoming increasingly apparent, then it is particularly necessary to explore the carrying capacity of water ecological environment under extreme drought conditions, which can guarantee the ecological water security in river basins. This study takes the Guanzhong area of the Wei River Basin as an example, calculating the water environment carrying capacity of 40 areas in the Weihe Guanzhong area in different levels of years under extreme drought conditions by comprehensive evaluation model of carrying capacity and using geographic information system GIS to display the spatial distribution of water environment carrying capacity in 40 regions. According to the results of the spatial distribution of water environmental bearing capacity, four different schemes are designed to improve the bearing capacity. The first plan reduces the industrial water consumption and irrigation quota by 5%, the second plan increases the industrial water and sewage treatment rate on this basis. the third plan further improves the development and utilization rate of surface and groundwater, and the fourth plan, on the basis of the first three plans, supplies 600 million cubic meters of industrial and agricultural water to Guanzhong region. Through comparative analysis, without taking any measures, under the extreme drought conditions, the water environment carrying capacity of the 40 areas in Guanzhong is all in an unbearable state. Overall, plan 4 has the most significant improvement in the water environment-carrying capacity, especially the Dong zhuang Reservoir of the Jing River which has played a very important role in enhancing the water ecological environment carrying capacity of the downstream water of the Wei River.

Coordination Relationship and Spatial Differentiation between Industrial Structure and Water Use Structure in Gansu Province

Taking Gansu Province as the research area, the coordination level and relationship between industrial structure and water use structure in Gansu Province were analyzed by the coordination degree and structure coefficient. On this basis, it is further divided into five regions, and the spatial differences of intra-regional and inter-regional coordination levels are explored by Gini coefficient. The results indicate that :(1) After the adjustment of industrial structure and water consumption structure, the proportion of secondary industry is reduced, and the water consumption is reduced. (2) The development of coordination degree is good, and the overall trend is low consumption, low efficiency and medium coordination water consumption mode. (3) The regional differences in industrial structure and water use structure in Gansu Province are prominent, especially in Hexi region and Gannan region, with a decreasing trend.

Evaluation and forecasting of water cycle health in the yangtze river economic belt using composite weight and extensible cloud model

The regional water cycle reflects the dual processes of nature and society. A healthy and benign water cycle is a fundamental guarantee for achieving regional sustainable development.The Yangtze River Economic Belt, as a densely populated urban cluster with abundant water resources in China, plays a crucial role in promoting the sustainable development of Chinese urban clusters. It is of significant importance to optimize the water cycle health of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and explore its primary obstacles.This study integrates the natural-social attributes of the water cycle and selects 25 evaluation indicators from six dimensions: Drivers (D), Pressures (P), States (S), Impacts (I), Responses (R), and Management (M), to construct the water cycle evaluation system for the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Combining Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), and the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method, the comprehensive weights of subjective and objective factors are obtained based on the principle of minimum relative entropy.Based on this, an Extended Cloud Model is constructed to evaluate the water cycle health status of the region from 2012 to 2022.Furthermore, the Obstacle Degree Model is introduced to identify the primary obstacles affecting the water cycle health in the region. Finally, the ARIMA model is applied to forecast the water cycle health status in the region from 2023 to 2030.The results indicate that the comprehensive water cycle health level in the region improved gradually from initially sub-pathological to sub-healthy status from 2012 to 2022.Per capita GDP, industrial water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial value added, per capita water consumption, forest coverage rate, sediment transport module, proportion of environmental protection investment to GDP, and proportion of water resources management investment to GDP are the primary obstacles affecting the improvement of health in this region.The forecast indicates that the overall water cycle health status in the region will remain at a sub-healthy level from 2023 to 2030.The research results can provide a scientific reference for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, better supporting and serving China's modernization, and providing scientific reference basis.

Assessing the impact of agriculture, coal mining, and ecological restoration on water sustainability in the Mu Us Sandyland

Balancing water demand for socio–economic development and ecosystem stability presents a challenge for regional sustainable management, especially in drylands. Previous studies have indicated that large–scale ecological restoration projects (ERPs) lead to a decline in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Mu Us Sandyland (MUS). However, the effects of other human activities (e.g., cropland reclamation, coal mining) on water resources remain unclear, raising concerns regarding water crisis and human–natural system sustainability. Through the utilization of coal mine location data, we found that the impact of coal mass loss on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) products cannot be ignored in MUS, especially in the coal–rich northeastern part. Combining these data with auxiliary datasets, we observed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in TWS (−0.85 cm yr−1) and groundwater storage (GWS, −0.95 cm yr−1) in the MUS, with human activities accounting for 79.23 % of TWS and 90.45 % of GWS reductions, primarily due to increased agricultural and industrial water consumption. Agricultural water consumption increased 2.23 times from 2001 to 2020, attributed to enhanced water use intensity (62.6 %) and cropland expansion (37.4 %). Industrial water consumption in Shenmu, a representative coal county, experienced a 4.16–fold rise between 2001 and 2020. Despite these challenges, local governments have alleviated water stress, ensured food security, and increased household income by comprehensive management strategies, such as enhancing water–saving technology and enforcing stringent policies. Previous studies have overestimated the amount of water resources consumed by ERPs. However, ERPs has played a critical role in stabilizing the regional ecological environment and ensuring the region as a vital food and energy supplier. Our findings can guide for socio-economic development and water management policies in similar regions.

A Comprehensive Analysis of China’s Water Resources Tax Reform

In response to the growing disparity between the supply and demand of water resources, the Chinese government has piloted a more binding and reformed water resources tax to realize the sustainable utilization of water resources. However, reasonable tax standards and their water-saving effects and economic benefits are important and worthy of attention. Therefore, in this study, we combine the virtual water theory with the price input–output model to discuss the impact of water resources taxation on the economy and its water-saving effects. The results show the following: (1) A water resources tax has a significant water-saving effect, and is predicted to save 33.12 billion cubic meters of virtual water. (2) Consumers’ expected reductions in spending on food and tobacco manufacturing and agriculture are predicted to save more virtual water at a lower economic cost. (3) The collection of water resources taxes can actively and simultaneously guide water savings in terms of consumption and production. The water consumption of the construction industry is worthy of attention. The expected output value reduction accounts for 67.2% of the total output value reduction, and its water savings account for 96% of the total water savings. Other service sectors also have ample room to optimize the utilization of their water resources.

Mechanism testing of the empowerment of green transformation and upgrading of industry by the digital economy in China

With the continuous advancement of industrialization, global environmental problems are becoming increasingly severe. Maintaining economic growth while improving the environment has been an important issue for many countries, especially developing countries. As industry is a major source of environmental pollution, industrial green transformation and upgrading have become particularly important. In the era of the digital economy (DE), there is a new path for industrial green transformation and upgrading. Based on provincial data on industry from 2008 to 2021, a difference-in-differences (DID) model was constructed to analyze the environmental and economic benefits. New pathways for trade-offs between environmental improvement and economic growth in China are presented. In addition, new ideas are concerning global environmental issues and economic issues in the DE are presented. The present study indicates that the DE has reduced the intensity of pollution emissions and elevated total factor productivity (TFP), which has helped to promote industrial green transformation and upgrading. Further mechanism testing showed that the DE has promoted industrial green transformation and upgrading by improving the utilization of energy and resources and promoting technological innovation. Considering the utilization of energy and resources, the DE has decreased China’s total industrial consumption of energy and coal, reduced industrial water consumption, and reduced the share of coal consumption and increased the share of clean energy consumption in China’s total industrial energy consumption; these effects have optimized the efficiency and structure of China’s energy utilization to contribute to the green transformation and upgrading of industry. Regarding technological innovation, the development of the DE has increased industrial innovation output and R&amp;amp;D input. Furthermore, it has promoted innovation with respect to green processes, accelerating technological innovation, and realized industrial green transformation and upgrading.

Using Niche Model to Analyze Water Consumption Structure in Jinan City, Shandong

Water resources are essential for healthy economic growth. Based on data on water consumption and industrial structure, this paper analyzes the evolution trends of the regional water consumption structure and industrial structure in Jinan City, Shandong Province, with the theory of the niche and ecological entropy, which may provide guidance for water resource utilization and social economy development in Jinan City. By establishing a coupling coordination model of the niche and ecological entropy, the dynamic niche evolution of the water consumption structure and industrial structure in Jinan City is analyzed. The results show the following: (1) The niche of agricultural water consumption accounts for the largest portion of the niche of water consumption, with an overall decreasing trend year by year. On the contrary, those of industrial and domestic water consumption have shown slow and fluctuating upward trends, respectively. Similar characteristics and trends are also reflected in the ecological entropy of water consumption. (2) In terms of industrial structure, the niche of the secondary industry accounts for the largest proportion among the three main industries, and only the niche of the tertiary industry is fluctuating upward. (3) Over the years, the overall coupling and coordination degree between the water consumption structure and industrial structure in Jinan was classified as a low degree of imbalance–weak coupling coordination. Among them, the coupling and coordination degree of the tertiary industry is the highest, that of the primary industry is the lowest, and that of the secondary industry is increasing year by year. Thus, it is necessary for Jinan to develop efficient water-saving agriculture and high-tech industry, maintain the development momentum of the tertiary industry, and continue to improve its coupling and coordination status.

Response Study of Streamflow and Sediment Reduction in the Northeast Region of the Loess Plateau under Changing Environment

The Sanggan River Basin in the loess hill and gully area is the primary water source for the establishment of the capital water conservation function area and the ecological environment support zone. Against the backdrop of global warming, population growth, and accelerated urbanization, water consumption in the Sanggan River Basin has persistently increased in recent years, leading to a series of issues, such as river pollution, surface streamflow reduction, groundwater over-exploitation, soil erosion, and decreased vegetation coverage. In this research, we employed the DMC approach, SWAT model, InVEST model, and CA-Markov model to quantitatively analyze the correlation between alterations in streamflow and sediment within this area and three influential factors: climate variations, LUCC, and other human interventions. Furthermore, we clarified the relative contributions of climate factor elements, land-use types, and human activities to streamflow and sediment in this region. The findings indicate a decline in the annual streamflow and sediment quantities observed within this region from 1960 to 2020, with reduction rates of 1.27 × 108 m3/10 a and 129.07 × 104 t/10 a, respectively, and an abrupt change year in 1983 and 1982. Compared to the annual streamflow, the annual sediment volume demonstrates more substantial variation. Based on the constructed model, three scenario simulation periods: P0 (1962–1981/1982), P1 (1983/1982–1999), and P2 (2000–2020) were set. Compared with P0, the respective contribution rates of climatic variation, land use, and other human intervention to streamflow (sediment volume) were 15.247% (19.601%), −0.03% (−1.349%), and 84.783% (81.748%) in P1. In P2, the contribution rates of these three factors on streamflow (sediment volume) were 9.160% (9.128%), 0.211% (3.053%), and 90.629% (84.818%), respectively. Through a quantitative analysis of climatic factors on streamflow and sediment, we found a positive correlation between precipitation and both streamflow and sediment. Additionally, there is an inverse relationship between temperature and streamflow, but streamflow will increase when temperature rises by 10%. Under three different future land-use scenarios, the variations in streamflow and sediment exhibited as ecological protection scenario &lt; urban expansion scenario &lt; natural development scenario. Changes in streamflow in this region are primarily caused by human intervention that alters the underlying surface. The increase in check dams and silted land could lead the runoff and sediment to decrease. Moreover, compared with the increase in industrial and agricultural water consumption, the increase in urban water consumption is the main factor for human water consumption.

Effect of Flowrate and Pressure on the Crossflow Filtration in Textile Wastewater Treatment by Commercial UF Membrane

Textile industries are one of the greatest wastewater producers as they require a significant amount of water to be used in the dyeing and finishing processes of textile manufacturing. The number of unit operations in the technological process, the product range, the bath ratio, the mass of fiber in relation to the bath volume, and the finishing machine are some variables that will affect water consumption in the textile industry. As a result, generally, a typical textile plant may consume a volume of water between 100,000 and 300,000 m3 annually. As textiles address a substantial portion of human requirements, it is predicted that by 2050, there will be 160 million metric tonnes, three times as much clothing as there is today. Membrane technology in wastewater treatment is a recent interest arising technique and garnering the industrial application’s interest, owing to its ease of setup and low energy requirement. Crossflow membrane filtration is commonly used in the industry, attributed to its tangential flow across the membrane mechanism, leading to low fouling. This study investigated the textile wastewater’s effluents using crossflow ultrafiltration (UF) membrane filtration. The effect of the operating parameter in terms of pressure and flowrate of the crossflow system were performed to evaluate it permeate flux performance. The study’s outcome reveals pressure increases from 2 bar to 4 bar, the water flux enhances dramatically from 156.26 L/m2hr to 591.98 L/m2hr, and the water flux further increases constantly from 4 bar to 10 bar. On the other hand, the flowrate positively affects the permeate flux, where the flux was enhanced from 651.01 L/m2hr to 726.08 L/m2hr when adjusting the flow rate from 2 LPM to 6 LPM. The results from this study suggested that crossflow membrane filtration system could be commercially feasible due to its permeate flux performance.

Reducing Industrial Water Consumption: The Impact of Organizational Learning

Using factory-level data from a large multinational manufacturer, we examine the effects of both organizational experience and knowledge transfer on an increasingly critical environmental performance measure, the consumption of water required for manufacturing. We estimate the direct effects on water consumption from in-factory cumulative production experience and the vicarious learning from peer factories in the same product category. We consider vicarious learning from three potential sources: observation of peer factories’ cumulative production experience; and benchmarking of water consumption performance with the best and worst performing peer factories. For each learning channel, we test for the moderating effects of water scarcity and geographic proximity. We find that factories learn to reduce their water consumption from their own experience but at a greater rate in water-scarce locations. Although we find that factories learn significantly from observing the cumulative production experience of peer factories, this effect does not hold in water-scarce locations or across geographic regions. We document that learning effects from observing others’ experience are quite distinct from learning effects by benchmarking others’ performance. We find vicarious learning effects from benchmarking the best-performing peer factories result in significant reductions in water consumption, and this effect is greater when the factory is in a water-scarce location, and when benchmarking other regions rather than within the same region. Finally, we find less significant vicarious learning from observing the worst-performing factories.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Terminal Lakes in the Hexi Interior, China

The evolution of a terminal lake at the end of a river not only reflects the climate change characteristics within the basin but also the impact of regional human activities, especially in arid areas. In the Hexi Interior of China, three terminal lakes (e.g., Halaqi Lake, East Juyanhai Lake, and Qingtu Lake) situated in the Shule River, Heihe River and Shiyang River, respectively, have been increasingly studied to support regional ecological protection and sustainable oasis development. In this study, Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI imagery were used to examine Halaqi Lake spanning from 2017 to 2022, East Juyanhai Lake from 1990 to 2022, and Qingtu Lake from 2009 to 2022. The focus of this investigation was to characterize changes in lake area and the impact of climate change and human activities. The results revealed a dramatic change in Halaqi Lake, which suddenly emerged in 2017, initially covering an area of 13.49 km2, gradually vanishing nearly in 2021, and reappearing in 2022 with a reduced area of 9.53 km2. The area of East Juyanhai Lake was 54.39 km2 in 1990 but reduced to 40.84 km2 by 2022. Throughout this period, it encountered episodes of drying up in 1992, 1995, 2001, and 2002. Qingtu Lake emerged in 2009, with an area of 0.09 km2, and subsequently expanded to 2.60 km2 by 2022. Climate change and human activities collectively influence the area fluctuations of these three terminal lakes. Among these factors, temperature changes have a greater impact on the lake area in East Juyanhai. Global warming has worsened glacier melting in the Qilian Mountains, resulting in increased inflow in certain years and substantial lake area expansion. Human activities are the primary drivers of changes in Halaqi Lake and Qingtu Lake. Industrial water consumption is the key factor influencing area changes in Halaqi Lake, whereas water usage in forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries plays a dominant role in the area changes of Qingtu Lake. Furthermore, the introduction of ecological water conveyance projects has had an indispensable effect on rejuvenating and preserving the watershed areas of these three terminal lakes. It is important to emphasize that human-driven water resource management is the primary cause of sudden changes in the lake areas.

Climate Change Impacts on Agricultural and Industrial Water Demands in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region Using Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM)

As a politically and culturally important city cluster, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region is the most prominent area in China where the imbalance between the supply and demand of water resources restricts the sustainable and healthy development of the regional social economy. In the context of global warming, research into water demand prediction that takes climate change into consideration would be more in line with the strategic goal of the low-carbon sustainable development of future cities. At the same time, the prediction of agricultural water demands against a background of climate change is urgently needed, while industrial water consumption is weakly correlated with climate change, an investigation of the statistical relationship between the two is needed. Thus, in this paper, future climate data from the BTH region under the scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were generated using a statistical downscaling model, and then coupled with agricultural and industrial water demand prediction models to simulate and analyze the impact of climate change on the agricultural and industrial water demands, respectively. The results show that during the forecast period (2020–2035), the reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) growth rates in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei areas under the RCP2.6 scenario are 1.438 mm·a−1, 1.393 mm·a−1 and 2.059 mm·a−1, respectively. Under the RCP4.5 scenario, they are 2.252 mm·a−1, 2.310 mm·a−1 and 2.827 mm·a−1, respectively. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, they are 3.123 mm·a−1, 2.310 mm·a−1 and 2.141 mm·a−1, respectively. Furthermore, under each climate scenario, the increase in evapotranspiration in the Hebei area is the largest, followed by that in the Tianjin area, and that in the Beijing area is the smallest. For water consumption per CNY 10,000 of industrial added value during the forecast period, under the three different climate scenarios, a downward trend is seen in the Beijing area, with rates of 0.158, 0.153 and 0.110, respectively, but in the Tianjin area, there is an upward trend, with an upward tendency in rates of 0.170, 0.087 and 0.071, and an upward trend in the Hebei area, with an upward tendency in rates of 0.254, 0.071 and 0.036, respectively. This study will help the BTH region to rationally allocate agricultural and industrial water against the background of future climate change, and strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the different regions to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the cities.

Inversed virtual water flow pattern and its influencing factors in Northwest China

Northwest China faces an imbalance between scarce water resources and increasing water use demands for agricultural production and economic growth. However, the shifts in virtual water flow (VWF) patterns in Northwest China and its the driving factors are still unclear. In this study, we employed the Multiregional Input–Output (MRIO) method to investigate the evolution of VWF patterns among Northwest China’s primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and analyze their driving factors through Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model. The results show that (1) Northwest China changed from 7.24 × 108 m3 net inflow to 175.70 × 108 m3 net outflow from 2002 to 2007. (2) More than 90 % of virtual water of the primary industry was used locally, but both secondary and tertiary industries depended more on virtual water inflow in Northwest China. (3) The virtual water outflow from Northwest China is mostly to the Jing-Jin Region, followed by the Northern Coast, and the main inflow is from the Central Region. (4) Population, economy, and technology affect virtual water from inflow to outflow, and technological development helps to decrease virtual water flow volumes. In conclusion, dramatic decrease of second and third industries inflow is the main reason for the changes from net inflow to net outflow of Northwest China. Meanwhile, it is feasible to increase technological support to further reducing virtual water consumption in primary industry, and strengthen virtual water trades of secondary and tertiary industrial virtual water inflows by promoting population and economic conditions.

The coupling coordination and spatiotemporal evolution of industrial water-energy-CO2 in the Yellow River Basin

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important energy, chemical, raw material, and basic industrial base in China. With economic growth, water and energy consumption in industrial industries increasing dramatically, huge pressure for CO2 emission reduction has generated. This paper constructed an industrial water-energy-CO2 (WEC) evaluation index system, analyzed the comprehensive evaluation level, coupling status and coupling coordination status, by using the comprehensive evaluation method, coupling degree model and coupling coordination degree model and used the spatial autocorrelation analysis to study the spatiotemporal evolution from 1999 to 2019 in the YRB. The results demonstrated that the integrated development level of the basin's industrial WEC system and subsystems had been improving. The basin was at a high coupling and the level of coupling had been increasing as a whole, and the industrial energy-CO2 coupling degree was bigger than the industrial water-energy and industrial water-CO2 coupling degrees in the YRB. The coupling coordination status had transitioned from forced coordination to good coordination. Spatially, the coupling coordination didn't appear a significant correlation and showed a random distribution. Accordingly, the suggestions were made to improve the level of industrial development in the basin, strengthen integrated resource management, and enhance intra-basin cooperation.