Research on co-benefits of coal consumption control on water resources

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Chunfeng Hao, Yaqin Qiu, Cunwen Niu, Yangwen Jia

Friday 3 july 2015

12:45 - 12:48h at Europe 1 (level 0)

Themes: (T) Hydro-environment, (ST) Rehabilitation of water systems, Poster pitches

Parallel session: Poster pitches: 15G. Environment - Renewable & Wetland

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With the energy structure transformation in China, coal consumption control, considered to be of great importance for efficient utilization of limited resources and mitigation of environmental disruption, attracts more and more attention. The whole processes of coal consumption, not only coal production, but also its conversion and utilization, relate closely to regional water resources by disturbance of local hydrogeological structure in coal mining areas, as well as water use and drainage pollution throughout the full life cycle of coal. The paper focuses on the co-benefits of coal consumption control on water resources, including the mechanism of effects of coal consumption development on water resources and the response of regional coal consumption to strong constraint of water resources, to provide a scientific basis and technological support for national coal cap policy-making and its costs and benefits assessment by qualitative and quantitative analysis on the overall processes of coal consumption including coal production, conversion and utilization. Firstly, mechanism of effects of coal consumption on water resources is studied which takes into account regional surface runoff, groundwater storage and aquifer structure, and water quality. Then, several factors are selected and quantified to demonstrate multiple influences of coal consumption on regional agriculture, economy and eco-environment in which both aspects of water quantity and water quality are reviewed. Finally, the overall co-benefits of water resources are evaluated under different coal consumption control schemes considering socio-economic development and resources and environment carrying capacity. The policy of the most strict water resources management, the latest water resources policy in China, is regarded as significant circumstance in the research to make the results more scientific and practical.