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Reflecting the environmental cost of greenhouse gas emissions from an urban water system in the water price
Author(s) -
Chen YingChu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/wej.12519
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , environmental science , environmental engineering , water consumption , electricity , carbon dioxide equivalent , water use , environmental protection , engineering , ecology , electrical engineering , biology
This study evaluated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from an urban water system in Taiwan using a lifecycle assessment method. The water system of the Taipei region was used as a case study. Both on‐site and off‐site emissions of GHGs were considered. Total GHG emissions from the urban water system were 151,211.3 t CO 2 ‐eq/y in the study period. On‐site GHG emissions from water surfaces and chemical additives contributed 3.1% and 18.3% of total emissions. The reservoir accounted for 1% of total off‐site GHG emissions from electricity consumption; 60.3% was from purification plants and 38.7% from boosting stations. The environmental cost of GHG emissions from the urban water system was calculated as US$0.001 per ton of water, which implies that the water price in Taiwan should be increased to US$0.27/t. This study explored the principle of ‘user pays’ in water pricing by monetizing the environmental cost of GHG emissions.