Water-saving co-benefits of CO(2) reduction in China’s electricity sector

Electricity sector is the largest CO(2) emitter and water user in China’s industrial sectors. The low-carbon transition of China’s electricity sector reduces its cooling water consumption. Here we firstly quantify CO(2) emission and virtual water embodied in electricity trade with Quasi-Input-Output model. Then, we analyze the impacts of energy substitution, efficiency improvement, and electricity trade on water-saving co-benefits of CO(2) reduction with the differences between the baseline scenario and counterfactual scenario. Results show that the low-carbon transition contributes to water-saving in China’s electricity sector. Virtual water and embodied CO(2) have relatively decoupled from electricity trade since 2012. Water-saving (+10.4% yr(−1)) outweighed CO(2) reduction (+8.4% yr(−1)) through energy substitution and efficiency improvement in the ‘new normal’ stage. Our work emphasizes the need to integrate water-saving co-benefits of CO(2) reduction into electricity system planning and highlights the challenges to facilitate coordinated development of the electricity-water nexus in China.