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Prof. Dr. Zongguo Wen
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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0 Environmental Policy
0 circular economy
0 industrial symbiosis
0 solid waste management

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Journal article
Published: 27 July 2021 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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Although cement kiln co-processing (CKC) has been considered an important municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment method in recent years, there however still exist obstacles such as unclear technical feasibility and ambiguous legislation that impede its further development. Addressing these barriers remains difficult as a comprehensive understanding of CKC from an MSW management perspective (which is a major challenge for policy makers) is lacking in existing studies. Therefore, this study adopted Material Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment and Net Present Value evaluation methods to quantitatively analyze the waste reduction effect, energy efficiency, environmental impact and economic performance of CKC in order to provide an important basis for determining its feasibility and policy direction in comparison to existing MSW treatment technologies. The results showed that CKC had a waste reduction rate of up to 99.5%, and 90% lower environmental emissions than incineration. However, from a life cycle perspective, the net environmental impact of CKC was not as significant as incineration and mechanical biological treatment because its coal saving effect has a relatively lower environmental impact mitigation potential compared to the potential from electricity generation brought by incineration. Furthermore, the proposed MSW treatment fee subsidy for CKC was 59 CNY/tonne, reflecting a 34% reduction from current incineration subsidy fee. These findings are important for many countries since the main barriers to CKC development are similar. Improving the comprehensive understanding of CKC could help policymakers formulate precise promotion planning and reasonable incentive policies.

ACS Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Christian Doh Dinga; Zhaojia Wang; Pengfei Liu. Comprehensive assessment of cement kiln co-processing under MSW sustainable management requirements. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 174, 105816 .

AMA Style

Vorada Kosajan, Zongguo Wen, Fan Fei, Christian Doh Dinga, Zhaojia Wang, Pengfei Liu. Comprehensive assessment of cement kiln co-processing under MSW sustainable management requirements. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 174 ():105816.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Christian Doh Dinga; Zhaojia Wang; Pengfei Liu. 2021. "Comprehensive assessment of cement kiln co-processing under MSW sustainable management requirements." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 174, no. : 105816.

Journal article
Published: 24 July 2021 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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Wet wipes have become one of the daily necessities for consumers. The spunlace non-woven fabric, whose main raw materials are petroleum-based fibers (mainly polyester fibers) and bio-based fibers (mainly viscose fibers), is the predominant component of wet wipes. The use of wet wipes triggers the increasing plastic consumption and environmental pollution. In the current study, the materials composition of China's wet wipes and final disposal methods were performed. The basic data of materials of wet wipes was obtained through field research. The study also evaluated and compared the life cycle environmental impacts of bio-based and petroleum-based wet wipes. Results showed that in China, the amount of plastic used in wet wipes reached 0.41 million tons in 2019. As for the comparison between distinct types of wet wipes, the comprehensive environmental impacts of bio-based wet wipes throughout the life cycle is 38% lower than that of petroleum-based wet wipes. The bio-based wet wipes outperform the petroleum-based ones in the lower resource consumption and toxicity risk, albeit it may induce water pollution. In the direct leakage scenario, bio-based wet wipes can avoid various risk of microplastic fibers disintegrated by polyester fibers. The main findings of this paper support the policy suggestions that bio-based wet wipes are proper alternatives for petroleum-based wet wipes, and it is essential to change consumers’ discarding behaviours to attenuate the leakage risk of wet wipes.

ACS Style

Yuting Zhang; Zongguo Wen; Weichen Lin; Yupeng Hu; Vorada Kosajan; Tingting Zhang. Life-cycle environmental impact assessment and plastic pollution prevention measures of wet wipes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 174, 105803 .

AMA Style

Yuting Zhang, Zongguo Wen, Weichen Lin, Yupeng Hu, Vorada Kosajan, Tingting Zhang. Life-cycle environmental impact assessment and plastic pollution prevention measures of wet wipes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 174 ():105803.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yuting Zhang; Zongguo Wen; Weichen Lin; Yupeng Hu; Vorada Kosajan; Tingting Zhang. 2021. "Life-cycle environmental impact assessment and plastic pollution prevention measures of wet wipes." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 174, no. : 105803.

Journal article
Published: 17 July 2021 in Science of The Total Environment
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With the rapid development of the express delivery industry, the environmental issues of express packaging waste (EPW) have gradually attracted public attention worldwide. As important participants, consumers' behaviors and attitudes will play a vital role in solving the problem. This study uses the conditional value method (CVM) to evaluate the differences in the attitudes and willingness to pay of urban and rural residents toward EPW in Guangdong Province, China. The results show that the respondents have limited knowledge of the recycling situation, relevant policies and environmental impacts of express delivery packaging, although more than 60% of respondents do think that there is a problem with excessive packaging. The low recycling rate for packaging materials is mainly attributed to the lack of recycling facilities and publicity on environmental issues. The differences between urban and rural residents are mainly over disposal methods, the views on excessive packaging and willingness to pay (WTP) for EPW. Finally, the WTP values of urban and rural residents choosing a “deposit” system are 1.58 ($0.24) and 1.79 yuan ($0.28) per piece, respectively, while the WTP values (for increased fees) are 0.64 yuan ($0.10) and 0.60 yuan ($0.09) per piece, respectively. The obtained results may serve as a reference for different regional responses to the promotion and improvement of EPW management in the future.

ACS Style

Kaihan Cai; Yifeng Xie; Qingbin Song; Ni Sheng; Zongguo Wen. Identifying the status and differences between urban and rural residents' behaviors and attitudes toward express packaging waste management in Guangdong Province, China. Science of The Total Environment 2021, 797, 148996 .

AMA Style

Kaihan Cai, Yifeng Xie, Qingbin Song, Ni Sheng, Zongguo Wen. Identifying the status and differences between urban and rural residents' behaviors and attitudes toward express packaging waste management in Guangdong Province, China. Science of The Total Environment. 2021; 797 ():148996.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kaihan Cai; Yifeng Xie; Qingbin Song; Ni Sheng; Zongguo Wen. 2021. "Identifying the status and differences between urban and rural residents' behaviors and attitudes toward express packaging waste management in Guangdong Province, China." Science of The Total Environment 797, no. : 148996.

Journal article
Published: 04 July 2021 in Sustainable Production and Consumption
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Based on China's energy consumption structure, the reduction of energy intensity is conducive to the realization of China's carbon neutrality goal, and technological innovation is the core driving force for reducing energy intensity. This paper utilizes the statistical data of industrial enterprises in China during the period of 2011–2018 to explore the technological innovation value chain efficiency under the background of the new development stage. This study divides the innovation value chain into technological innovation stage and the economic conversion stage. The network slacks-based measure (NSBM) approach is applied to calculate the two different stages’ efficiency. LSDV is utilized to analyze the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on industrial energy intensity. The main results are as follows: first, the development trend of technological innovation efficiency (TIE) and the economic conversion efficiency (ECE) has heterogeneous effect across economic regions. The comprehensive development trend of innovation value chain in central China is the best among the four economic regions. Second, the effect of TIE on industrial energy intensity is negative, while the ECE is positive related to industrial energy intensity. In terms of technology spillover effect, the impact of import and FDI on industrial energy intensity is negative, respectively. The relationship between export and energy intensity is positive. The energy price has the negative relationship with industrial energy intensity, and the impact of energy price on industrial energy intensity is the largest. Through analyzing the efficiency of innovation value chain and the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on energy intensity, this paper puts forwards relevant countermeasures and suggestions for effectively reducing industrial energy intensity and promoting high-quality industrial sustainable development. In addition, relevant theoretical research is provided for the sustainable green development.

ACS Style

Manli Cheng; Shanlin Yang; Zonguo Wen. The effect of technological factors on industrial energy intensity in China: New evidence from the technological diversification. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2021, 28, 775 -785.

AMA Style

Manli Cheng, Shanlin Yang, Zonguo Wen. The effect of technological factors on industrial energy intensity in China: New evidence from the technological diversification. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2021; 28 ():775-785.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manli Cheng; Shanlin Yang; Zonguo Wen. 2021. "The effect of technological factors on industrial energy intensity in China: New evidence from the technological diversification." Sustainable Production and Consumption 28, no. : 775-785.

Journal article
Published: 18 January 2021 in Nature Communications
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Since the late 1990s, the trend of plastic waste shipment from developed to developing countries has been increasing. In 2017, China announced an unprecedented ban on its import of most plastic waste, resulting in a sharp decline in global plastic waste trade flow and changes in the treatment structure of countries, whose impacts on global environmental sustainability are enormous but yet unexamined. Here, through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, we quantified the environmental impacts of changes in the flow patterns and treatment methods of 6 types of plastic waste in 18 countries subsequent to the ban. In the short term, the ban significantly improved four midpoint indicators of environmental impact, albeit contributed to global warming. An annual saving of about 2.35 billion euros of eco-cost was realized, which is equivalent to 56% of plastic waste global trade value in 2017. To achieve global environmental sustainability in the long run, countries should gradually realize the transition from export to domestic management, and from landfill to recycling, which would realize eco-costs savings of about 1.54–3.20 billion euros.

ACS Style

Zongguo Wen; Yiling Xie; Muhan Chen; Christian Doh Dinga. China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide. Nature Communications 2021, 12, 1 -9.

AMA Style

Zongguo Wen, Yiling Xie, Muhan Chen, Christian Doh Dinga. China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide. Nature Communications. 2021; 12 (1):1-9.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zongguo Wen; Yiling Xie; Muhan Chen; Christian Doh Dinga. 2021. "China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide." Nature Communications 12, no. 1: 1-9.

Journal article
Published: 08 January 2021 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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In many countries, like China, the huge capacity of cement industry seems to be able to absorb the booming production of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, the rapid progress of incineration facilities construction raise questions such as will there be chances of cement kiln co-processing (CKC) to be utilized and promoted as an MSW complementary technology in China, and how will it develop in the future? This paper obtained numerous up-to-date data and information as support evidences to quantitatively evaluate the MSW treatment pressure and its temporal and spatial evolution in Chinese provinces, and estimate the CKC promotion and emission reduction potential for adapting to regional MSW demand. Results showed that CKC still has a great promotion potential. China's MSW treatment system was under long-term pressure and might have a shortage of 4.50 million tons in 2020. Provincial level analysis indicated that CKC could not only completely filled the treatment gap, but also replaced 78.05 million tons of landfill capacity. The resulting environmental benefits were significant, with a reduction of 2.55E+10 kg CO2 eq. and 4.47E+07 kg SO2 eq. from a life-cycle perspective for GWP and AP etc., respectively. Hence, CKC contributed to relieving the pressure on MSW management (MSWM) and improving environmental performance. By developing more precise regional planning, some of the issues that had hindered the spread of CKC could be addressed. The main findings of this paper might be influential in guiding the universalization of CKC in China and other regions.

ACS Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Kaifang Zheng; Fan Fei; Zhaojia Wang; Haikui Tian. Municipal solid waste (MSW) co-processing in cement kiln to relieve China's Msw treatment capacity pressure. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 167, 105384 .

AMA Style

Vorada Kosajan, Zongguo Wen, Kaifang Zheng, Fan Fei, Zhaojia Wang, Haikui Tian. Municipal solid waste (MSW) co-processing in cement kiln to relieve China's Msw treatment capacity pressure. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 167 ():105384.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Kaifang Zheng; Fan Fei; Zhaojia Wang; Haikui Tian. 2021. "Municipal solid waste (MSW) co-processing in cement kiln to relieve China's Msw treatment capacity pressure." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 167, no. : 105384.

Journal article
Published: 04 November 2020 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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Multiple types of human activities have greatly influenced anthropogenic phosphorus (P) cycle, causing severe environmental pressure especially for populous cities in the bay area with abundant water resources. The impact of city characteristics on their phosphorus metabolism should be identified to accordingly adjust these factors to sustain a more effective phosphorus management. Using the Greater Bay Area of China which contains 11 cities as a case, this study develops a phosphorus flow analysis model to quantify phosphorus flow amounts characterized by production, processing, consumption, and waste management sectors for each city. Impact of city characteristics on their phosphorus metabolic features illustrated by six indicators are then revealed by multiple regression analysis using variable data of the 11 cities. Results show that in 2016, to satisfy the human phosphorus demand of 59.9 Gg/y in the Greater Bay Area of China, 33.0 Gg/y was discharged into surface water, and 59.3 Gg/y accumulated in the city ecosystem. The average utilization rates of phosphorus in crop production, livestock production, and aquaculture were around 33.0%, 27.8%, and 26.7%, respectively. Cities with dense population or with developed agriculture had high emission intensity of phosphorus loads, while the latter type had a much higher per capita phosphorus pollution discharge of more than 2.5 kg/y. The scale of grain crop production and aquaculture production exhibited significant influence on phosphorus pollution emission features, while the recycling rate of sludge and agricultural wastes decided the whole urban systems’ phosphorus recycling rate to a great extent. This study can provide support to depict the urban phosphorus flow patterns, recognize its most influential socioeconomic and environmental factors, and propose effective phosphorus management measures for cities in the bay area.

ACS Style

Chen Chen; Zhen Yao; Zongguo Wen; Ni Sheng. Impact of city characteristics on its phosphorus metabolism in the bay area: A comparative analysis of cities in the Greater Bay Area of China. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 286, 124925 .

AMA Style

Chen Chen, Zhen Yao, Zongguo Wen, Ni Sheng. Impact of city characteristics on its phosphorus metabolism in the bay area: A comparative analysis of cities in the Greater Bay Area of China. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 286 ():124925.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chen Chen; Zhen Yao; Zongguo Wen; Ni Sheng. 2020. "Impact of city characteristics on its phosphorus metabolism in the bay area: A comparative analysis of cities in the Greater Bay Area of China." Journal of Cleaner Production 286, no. : 124925.

Journal article
Published: 07 October 2020 in Journal of Environmental Management
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The multi-sectoral metabolisms of substance and energy in rural areas are complex, whose optimization is the key to realize resource recycling and energy cascade utilization. Through Substance Flow Analysis (SFA), we establish a Multi-sectoral Metabolism Analysis Model specific to rural areas (MMAM-rural), and investigated the multi-sectoral metabolisms of Liujiadian Town in Beijing city. We simulate the water, energy and nutrients (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) metabolisms of a total of five sectors (water, waste management, livestock husbandry, forestry, and residential sectors), and identify the key metabolic flows significant for improving regional metabolism performance of Liujiadian Town. For further technical path optimization, we construct an index system made up of resource utilization efficiency, environmental burden of production and recycling efficiency, and adopt Scenario Analysis to evaluate the water-energy-nutrient metabolism performance under multiple technical scenarios different from disposals of agricultural waste, livestock and poultry manure, and domestic waste. Results show that, for agricultural wastes disposal, the combination scenario of edible fungi cultivation, anaerobic fermentation and aerobic composting is optimal. For livestock and poultry manure, all pig manure should be composted after anaerobic fermentation. For domestic wastes, food wastes require anaerobic fermentation and composting for optimization. Our study provides a model to evaluate metabolism performance of water-energy-nutrient nexus in rural areas, and raises solutions for optimization in the process of eco-town construction.

ACS Style

Zongguo Wen; Yiling Xie; Chen Chen; Yue Li; Patrick Xu. Water-energy-nutrient nexus: Multi-sectoral metabolism analysis and technical path optimization for eco-towns. Journal of Environmental Management 2020, 277, 111395 .

AMA Style

Zongguo Wen, Yiling Xie, Chen Chen, Yue Li, Patrick Xu. Water-energy-nutrient nexus: Multi-sectoral metabolism analysis and technical path optimization for eco-towns. Journal of Environmental Management. 2020; 277 ():111395.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zongguo Wen; Yiling Xie; Chen Chen; Yue Li; Patrick Xu. 2020. "Water-energy-nutrient nexus: Multi-sectoral metabolism analysis and technical path optimization for eco-towns." Journal of Environmental Management 277, no. : 111395.

Journal article
Published: 03 September 2020 in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
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Industrial energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction (ECCER) management is a multi-objective optimization problem with multiple uncertainty factors. However, most studies have used deterministic optimization approaches, and neglected the uncertainty factors that affect the effectiveness of the management strategies. This study adopts a multi-objective optimization model under uncertainty to solve the ECCER management problem in China's iron and steel industry. Three objectives: minimum energy intensity, maximum CO2 emission reduction, and minimum cost, are optimized simultaneously. This study simulates the perturbation of the uncertainty parameters within their fluctuation ranges via Latin Hypercube Sampling, adopts the mean objective function value mechanism to calculate the objective value, and obtains the optimized results using the second generation of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). Lastly, this study sets three types of preferences to generate final decision strategies via a Vague set-based approach. Results show: (1) The algorithm is reliable as per the verification of Hypervolume indicator and Spacing Metric; (2) The average values of energy intensity and CO2 emission reduction amount in optimal solutions are 524.00 kgce and 125.03 kg per ton steel respectively, which are 6.3% and 7.6% lower than the deterministic optimal ones; (3) The decision strategies encourage the wider application of large-sized process equipment, identify 8-9 advanced technology and eight reutilization approaches as key measures, but find the use of renewable energy will still be in low level. This study aims to solve the industrial ECCER optimization problem under uncertainty, and put forward policy suggestions in sustainable manufacturing in this industry.

ACS Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Jianguo Yao; Christian Doh Dinga. Multi-objective optimization of synergic energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction in China's iron and steel industry under uncertainty. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2020, 134, 110128 .

AMA Style

Yihan Wang, Zongguo Wen, Jianguo Yao, Christian Doh Dinga. Multi-objective optimization of synergic energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction in China's iron and steel industry under uncertainty. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2020; 134 ():110128.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Jianguo Yao; Christian Doh Dinga. 2020. "Multi-objective optimization of synergic energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction in China's iron and steel industry under uncertainty." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 134, no. : 110128.

Journal article
Published: 14 May 2020 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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Subsequent to the sharp surge in quantity of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, the pace at which waste treatment facilities are being constructed in some cities cannot meet the increasing demand for MSW treatment capacity. As a remedy to this, the co-processing of MSW in high-temperature cement kilns has become a potential MSW treatment option in emerging countries, and has been widely implemented in developed countries such as Netherlands and Germany. However, the environmental impacts of MSW co-processing in cement kilns differ from those of traditional treatment technologies. Besides, it is necessary to determine whether MSW co-processing in cement kilns could reduce the overall environmental impacts of MSW treatment and disposal as a whole, which is a key step in analyzing the feasibility of the treatment technology. Hence, this study used the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to quantitatively analyze the environmental impacts of MSW co-processing in cement kilns and the results further compared with other MSW treatment technologies. The functional unit was one ton of raw MSW, and real operational data from the cement industry and MSW treatment project in China was used for case studies. The results revealed that when compared to incineration and mechanical biological treatment (MBT), the environmental impact mitigation of energy recovery during MSW co-processing in cement kilns is not that significant. However, since there is no required additional treatment of residual waste and wastewater, the environmental impact caused by MSW co-processing in cement kiln appeared to be much lower from a life cycle perspective. Therefore, under conditions of insufficient MSW treatment capacity, co-processing in cement kiln could be an effective complementary approach to MSW management in China and other emerging countries which have many new dry cement kilns suitable for this alternative complementary technique of MSW treatment and disposal.

ACS Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Christian Doh Dinga; Zhaojia Wang; Jiayu Zhan. The feasibility analysis of cement kiln as an MSW treatment infrastructure: From a life cycle environmental impact perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 267, 122113 .

AMA Style

Vorada Kosajan, Zongguo Wen, Fan Fei, Christian Doh Dinga, Zhaojia Wang, Jiayu Zhan. The feasibility analysis of cement kiln as an MSW treatment infrastructure: From a life cycle environmental impact perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 267 ():122113.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vorada Kosajan; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Christian Doh Dinga; Zhaojia Wang; Jiayu Zhan. 2020. "The feasibility analysis of cement kiln as an MSW treatment infrastructure: From a life cycle environmental impact perspective." Journal of Cleaner Production 267, no. : 122113.

Journal article
Published: 12 May 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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Realizing precision management, which is of great importance in city-level emission reduction management, requires scientific identification of key enterprises and differentiated emission reduction measures. However, current studies have not considered the enterprises units, or have not proposed the emission reduction paths of them. To solve this problem, this study chooses Changzhi, an industrialized city in China as a case, and considers 54 enterprises from thermal-power, cement, coking, and iron and steel sectors. The pollution performances, including the indicators of energy intensity and emission intensities of SO2, NOx, and PM of the 54 enterprises are evaluated. After identifying the key enterprises, this study designs their emission reduction paths including three types of measures, and quantifies the emission reduction potential. The results show that: (1) The 54 enterprises have imbalanced pollution performances, as the values have difference of 2–4 orders of magnitude. 13, 10, and 19 enterprises are classified into level A, B, and C respectively. (2) The emission reduction paths of 24 key enterprises are designed, which can reduce 3441.21, 4507.85, and 1683.12 tons of SO2, NOx, and PM. This accounts for 29.4%, 21.2%, and 14.9% of the total emissions. Based on these results, this study puts forward some policy suggestions of precision management measures in Changzhi. In sum, this study provides a methodology into quantitative analysis of precision air pollutant emission reduction management at city level, and put forward some critical insights of cleaner and sustainable production of the enterprises.

ACS Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Jingwen Dong. The city-level precision industrial emission reduction management based on enterprise performance evaluation and path design: A case of Changzhi, China. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 734, 139350 .

AMA Style

Yihan Wang, Zongguo Wen, Jingwen Dong. The city-level precision industrial emission reduction management based on enterprise performance evaluation and path design: A case of Changzhi, China. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 734 ():139350.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Jingwen Dong. 2020. "The city-level precision industrial emission reduction management based on enterprise performance evaluation and path design: A case of Changzhi, China." Science of The Total Environment 734, no. : 139350.

Journal article
Published: 10 March 2020 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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Symbiotic technology is a useful technique for industrial cleaner production and sustainability. A comprehensive assessment method is necessary for the selection and update of advanced symbiotic technologies in technology catalogues. However, there has been no studies focusing on the assessment of symbiotic technology, and the uncertainty of technical performances has been rarely considered. Therefore, this research adopts a multi-criteria decision-making method—entropy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution ) to assess 22 symbiotic technologies in iron and steel industrial network. 6 types of criteria are set to comprehensively assess the comprehensive performance of each technology. In addition, an iron and steel enterprise with 3 Mt annual output is taken as a case to apply in the technical selection schemes and evaluate technical effects. Finally, a random sampling method – Latin Hypercube Sampling is adopted to conduct uncertainty analysis. The results show that: (1) The symbiotic technologies utilizing by-products from ironmaking process have the overall optimal performance, while the ones from sintering process have the worst. The medium of assessment result ranges are lower than the initial ones. (2) Based on the technical assessment results, 12 symbiotic technologies are selected to apply in the case iron and steel enterprise under 3 types of preferences. The environmental manager and integrated preference schemes have the same technologies, but 5 of them are different from the enterprise preference schemes, but all of them can reach significant energy, environment, and economic benefits. The findings are hoped to apply to the formulation and issue of symbiotic technology catalogues, and help enterprises to select effective technical schemes to improve their cleaner production level.

ACS Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Huifang Li. Symbiotic technology assessment in iron and steel industry based on entropy TOPSIS method. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 260, 120900 .

AMA Style

Yihan Wang, Zongguo Wen, Huifang Li. Symbiotic technology assessment in iron and steel industry based on entropy TOPSIS method. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 260 ():120900.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Huifang Li. 2020. "Symbiotic technology assessment in iron and steel industry based on entropy TOPSIS method." Journal of Cleaner Production 260, no. : 120900.

Journal article
Published: 06 February 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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Studies on quantifying the energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) effects of industrial symbiosis are mostly confined to micro-level industrial parks or regions, and few are on national level. Focusing on the symbiosis system formed by the iron and steel industry, the thermal power industry, the cement industry, and the social sector in China, this article aims to clarify the contribution of this nationwide industrial symbiosis system to China's total industrial ECER potential and to identify optimal symbiotic technologies that should be emphasized on from 2020 to 2030. By combining traditional bottom-up model and lifecycle material metabolism theory, this article simulates the technology structure of this symbiosis system. By clarifying the ECER mechanisms of different types of symbiotic technologies, this article evaluates the ECER effect of each symbiotic technology as well as the performance of the overall symbiosis system. The results show that: (1) this nationwide industrial symbiosis system can save 35.7 million tons of coal equivalent, and reduce 189 kt of SO2 emissions, 139 kt of NOx emissions, and 64 kt of PM emissions. These ECER effects contribute to 18–43% of China's national industrial ECER targets, which are larger than the potential of promoting energy efficiency technologies and end-of-pipe technologies in each single industry; (2) reutilizing solid wastes from the thermal power industry and the social sector as cementitious materials, as well as recovering iron and zinc from metallurgical dust are key symbiotic fields between 2020 and 2030. Three types of differentiated technology promotion suggestions are put forward.

ACS Style

Xin Cao; Zongguo Wen; Xiaoli Zhao; Yihan Wang; Huairong Zhang. Quantitative assessment of energy conservation and emission reduction effects of nationwide industrial symbiosis in China. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 717, 137114 .

AMA Style

Xin Cao, Zongguo Wen, Xiaoli Zhao, Yihan Wang, Huairong Zhang. Quantitative assessment of energy conservation and emission reduction effects of nationwide industrial symbiosis in China. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 717 ():137114.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xin Cao; Zongguo Wen; Xiaoli Zhao; Yihan Wang; Huairong Zhang. 2020. "Quantitative assessment of energy conservation and emission reduction effects of nationwide industrial symbiosis in China." Science of The Total Environment 717, no. : 137114.

Journal article
Published: 23 December 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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The objective of this study is to apply machine learning models to accurately predict daily biomethane production in an industrial-scale co-digestion facility. The methodology involved applying elasticnet, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting to input-output data from an industrial-scale anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD) facility. The models were used to predict biomethane for 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, 10-day, 20-day, 30-day, and 40-day time horizons. These models were fit on four years of operational data. The results showed that elastic net (a model with assumptions of linearity) was clearly outperformed by random forest and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), which had out-of-sample R2 values ranging between 0.80 to 0.88, depending on the time horizon. In addition, feature importance and partial dependence analysis demonstrated the marginal and interaction effects on biomethane of selected biowaste inputs. For instance, food waste co-digested with percolate were shown to have strong positive interaction effects. One implication of this study is that XGBoost and random forest algorithms applied to industrial-scale ACoD data provide dependable prediction results and may be a useful complement for experimental and mechanistic/theoretical models of anaerobic digestion, especially where detailed substrate characterization is difficult. However, these models have limitations, and suggestions for deriving additional value from these methods are proposed.

ACS Style

Djavan De Clercq; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Luis Caicedo; Kai Yuan; Ruoxi Shang. Interpretable machine learning for predicting biomethane production in industrial-scale anaerobic co-digestion. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 712, 134574 .

AMA Style

Djavan De Clercq, Zongguo Wen, Fan Fei, Luis Caicedo, Kai Yuan, Ruoxi Shang. Interpretable machine learning for predicting biomethane production in industrial-scale anaerobic co-digestion. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 712 ():134574.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Djavan De Clercq; Zongguo Wen; Fan Fei; Luis Caicedo; Kai Yuan; Ruoxi Shang. 2019. "Interpretable machine learning for predicting biomethane production in industrial-scale anaerobic co-digestion." Science of The Total Environment 712, no. : 134574.

Journal article
Published: 10 December 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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To resolve the increasingly higher energy and environmental pressures, the evaluation of environmental efficiency in China's iron and steel industry is essential for identifying a precise energy conservation and emission reduction path. However, current studies have only focused on the efficiency evaluation in national, regional, or enterprise level, lacking the analysis of different processes. Therefore, the objective of this research is to conduct a process-level data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the environmental efficiency of China's iron and steel industry. Totally, 54 enterprises are contained, as the input-output structure of 5 processes: sintering, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, and steel rolling are set specifically in this study. In addition, to compare the effects to the efficiency results of different DEA methods, Banker, Charnes & Cooper (BCC) model, Slack-based Measure (SBM) model, and Bootstrap-DEA methods are adopted. Finally, a regression model is used to investigate the key environmental protection strategies influencing the environmental efficiency. The results show that: (1) Within different methods, the average efficiency scores from SBM model are lower than the ones from BCC model, and the Bootstrap-DEA method also has a negative modification. (2) Regional efficiency difference exists, as the enterprises in South China perform best in sintering and coking processes but have the lowest overall efficiency scores. (3) Most enterprises have one or more short board processes. 12 enterprises are the enterprises with individual low environmental efficiency process, while other 25 are the enterprises with imbalanced environmental performances. (4) The coefficient factor between environmental protection investment and the efficiency scores are positive, but the factors of proportion of environmental protection staffs, and whether the enterprise has environmental protection research are negative. In sum, this study is hoped to contribute to formulating more precise environmental management measures in China's iron and steel industry.

ACS Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Xin Cao; Zhaofang Zheng; Jinjing Xu. Environmental efficiency evaluation of China's iron and steel industry: A process-level data envelopment analysis. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 707, 135903 .

AMA Style

Yihan Wang, Zongguo Wen, Xin Cao, Zhaofang Zheng, Jinjing Xu. Environmental efficiency evaluation of China's iron and steel industry: A process-level data envelopment analysis. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 707 ():135903.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yihan Wang; Zongguo Wen; Xin Cao; Zhaofang Zheng; Jinjing Xu. 2019. "Environmental efficiency evaluation of China's iron and steel industry: A process-level data envelopment analysis." Science of The Total Environment 707, no. : 135903.

Journal article
Published: 14 November 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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Human activities along the entire food supply-consumption-waste treatment-recycling chain have an essential influence on Nitrogen (N) metabolic features, especially for densely-populated urban agglomeration. A few studies carried out research on detailed analysis and comparison of N flow patterns along the entire food chain among cities, to recognize these influences and accordingly explore effective measures for improving N use efficiencies. In this study, we developed an integrated N flow analysis model to quantify N flows in the food system illustrated by production, processing, consumption, and waste management sectors. Influence of anthropogenic activities on N flow patterns is recognized through comparison among cities and predictions of future scenarios. Using the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region as a case study, we find that (1) in 2016, the annual N import into the production sector in the food system in the PRD region was about 714.5 Gg, among which only 241.6 Gg entered food products. The removal rate of N pollution in all waste stream was about 62.3%, and only 9% of N became resources through reclamation. (2) Among the nine cities in the PRD region, the average amounts of N pollution emission to the air, water, and soil all range from 0.57–5.38 kg cap−1 yr−1, showing significant discrepancy among cities. Cities with relatively lower economic development undertake substantial N pollution embedded in their exported agricultural products. (3) Recycling of agricultural waste is the prior N management measure for Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, and Huizhou, while highly urbanized cities should mainly concentrate on recycling of food waste and sewage sludge. We further put forward suggestions such as cross-city resource recycling to realize better N resource recycling and pollution reduction on the whole urban agglomeration scale. This study provides an in-depth example of depicting N flow patterns and identifying proper N management measures for urban agglomerations.

ACS Style

Chen Chen; Zongguo Wen; Yihan Wang. Nitrogen flow patterns in the food system among cities within urban agglomeration: A case study of the Pearl River Delta region. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 703, 135506 .

AMA Style

Chen Chen, Zongguo Wen, Yihan Wang. Nitrogen flow patterns in the food system among cities within urban agglomeration: A case study of the Pearl River Delta region. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 703 ():135506.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chen Chen; Zongguo Wen; Yihan Wang. 2019. "Nitrogen flow patterns in the food system among cities within urban agglomeration: A case study of the Pearl River Delta region." Science of The Total Environment 703, no. : 135506.

Journal article
Published: 15 October 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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Industrial symbiosis is a promising approach for energy conservation and emission reduction in the global industrial sector. The objective of this research is to optimize technology implementation within the industrial symbiosis system to achieve enhanced environmental and economic performance. The case study in this research has five objectives, making this a many-objective optimization problem (MaOP). MaOPs are a type of multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs), with the key difference being that MaOPs have four or more optimization objectives. While traditional intelligent algorithms are suitable for solving MOPs with no more than three objectives, they encounter serious difficulties when applied to MaOPs (high risk of falling into a local optimum, high computational complexity in algorithm performance evaluation, and difficulty in visualizing and analyzing high-dimensional optimal solutions). To fill this gap, this article establishes a novel methodological framework for solving many-objective environmental management problems. The framework includes a modified NSGA-III model, the Hypervolume by Slicing Objectives algorithm, the Heatmap method, and the fitted curve method. This framework provides model optimization, algorithm performance evaluation, results visualization, and decision-making analysis capabilities for optimizing technology implementation within the industrial symbiosis system. The study tests the effectiveness and reliability of this methodology. The result shows that industrial symbiosis can greatly reduce energy consumption, pollutant emissions, and economic costs in the industrial sector. Optimal technologies for effective industrial symbiosis in China from 2020 to 2030 are identified.

ACS Style

Xin Cao; Zongguo Wen; Jinjing Xu; Djavan De Clercq; Yihan Wang; Yuan Tao. Many-objective optimization of technology implementation in the industrial symbiosis system based on a modified NSGA-III. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 245, 118810 .

AMA Style

Xin Cao, Zongguo Wen, Jinjing Xu, Djavan De Clercq, Yihan Wang, Yuan Tao. Many-objective optimization of technology implementation in the industrial symbiosis system based on a modified NSGA-III. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 245 ():118810.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xin Cao; Zongguo Wen; Jinjing Xu; Djavan De Clercq; Yihan Wang; Yuan Tao. 2019. "Many-objective optimization of technology implementation in the industrial symbiosis system based on a modified NSGA-III." Journal of Cleaner Production 245, no. : 118810.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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Waste treatment is a metabolic process that incurs pollutants migration across environmental media (i.e., air, water, and soil) and involves various conversions of physicochemical forms of carbon. Multiple forms of carbon compounds, such as CO2, CH4, CO, VOCs, and other organic matter can contribute to a series of transboundary environmental problems. However, current strategies targeting pollution reduction in single medium may cause pollution transfer to other environmental media, leading to comparatively large difficulty in assessing the related environmental impact on integrated ecosystems. This paper develops an analysis framework of carbon cross-media metabolism in municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment systems that include landfilling, composting, incineration, and anaerobic digestion. Life cycle impact analysis and sensitivity analysis methods are used to recognize the essential technologies in promoting the carbon cross-media migration and decreasing the integrated environmental impacts. The framework is implemented in a case study of the MSW treatment systems of 2013 in China. Results show that 86%-98% of carbon pollutants generated through landfilling, composting, and incineration ended up in the natural environment, while anaerobic digestion achieved an 87% pollution removal rate. Co-generation technology applied in incineration flue gas treatment, biochemical + membrane treatment technology in wastewater treatment, and co-processing of sludge in cement kilns were identified as the essential technologies affecting carbon migration across the gas-liquid, liquid-solid, and solid-gas interface, respectively. The relatively high environmental impacts of landfilling and incineration can be decreased by optimizing their technological compositions and applications. This study can provide support to replace the traditional environmental practice aiming at pollution control in single environmental medium independently by a systematic management approach that considers carbon cross-media metabolism and integrated environmental impact.

ACS Style

Zongguo Wen; Chen Chen; Ning Ai; Weinan Bai; Wenting Zhang; Yihan Wang. Environmental impact of carbon cross-media metabolism in waste management: A case study of municipal solid waste treatment systems in China. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 674, 512 -523.

AMA Style

Zongguo Wen, Chen Chen, Ning Ai, Weinan Bai, Wenting Zhang, Yihan Wang. Environmental impact of carbon cross-media metabolism in waste management: A case study of municipal solid waste treatment systems in China. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 674 ():512-523.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zongguo Wen; Chen Chen; Ning Ai; Weinan Bai; Wenting Zhang; Yihan Wang. 2019. "Environmental impact of carbon cross-media metabolism in waste management: A case study of municipal solid waste treatment systems in China." Science of The Total Environment 674, no. : 512-523.

Journal article
Published: 18 June 2019 in Journal of Environmental Management
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A precise energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) path in industrial sector contains two aspects: applying effective ECER measures and focusing on processes with significant ECER potential. However, most studies have investigated the ECER effects of an individual measure or only evaluated industrial-level ECER potential. Therefore, the objective of this study is to find a precise ECER path in China's iron and steel industry through quantitative analysis methods. First, this article adopts scenario analysis to simulate situations where different ECER measures are adopted and designs calculation methods to quantitatively evaluate the ECER effects in each scenario in 2020 and 2025. Second, through analysis of the application of ECER measures to certain processes, we calculate the ECER potential of different individual processes in the iron and steel industry. In addition, the conservation supply curve method and the quadrant method are used to measure the level of advanced technology application. The results show that: (1) for four types of ECER measures, the limitation of production output measure is most effective, contributing to 6.98% and 12.50% decreases in total industrial energy consumption and pollutant emissions in 2020 and 2025; moreover, the contribution of the adjustment of scale structure measure is comparatively low. (2) The sintering and ironmaking processes have strong ECER potential in 2020, while the steel making process also has high ECER potential in 2025. (3) 21 technologies are divided into 4 quadrants based on energy, popularity, and economic performance. In addition, we provide some suggestions for future ECER policies. In sum, this article provides an in-depth example of determining a precise ECER path in an important industry.

ACS Style

Zongguo Wen; Yihan Wang; Huifang Li; Yuan Tao; Djavan De Clercq. Quantitative analysis of the precise energy conservation and emission reduction path in China's iron and steel industry. Journal of Environmental Management 2019, 246, 717 -729.

AMA Style

Zongguo Wen, Yihan Wang, Huifang Li, Yuan Tao, Djavan De Clercq. Quantitative analysis of the precise energy conservation and emission reduction path in China's iron and steel industry. Journal of Environmental Management. 2019; 246 ():717-729.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zongguo Wen; Yihan Wang; Huifang Li; Yuan Tao; Djavan De Clercq. 2019. "Quantitative analysis of the precise energy conservation and emission reduction path in China's iron and steel industry." Journal of Environmental Management 246, no. : 717-729.

Journal article
Published: 24 April 2019 in Energy
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The energy conversion efficiency of coal utilization is a focal point in modern energy management practices and in academic literature. This paper explores life cycle energy efficiency of coal (LEEC), which encompasses six distinct stages from the design of coal mines to the comprehensive reuse of resources. First, the study analyzes improvements to the evaluation of efficiencies in energy systems. Secondly, it proposes a multi-stage energy efficiency analysis and constructs an innovative LEEC model for coal exploitation and utilization. Thirdly, the energy efficiency of coal exploitation and utilization was evaluated, and found that total efficiency in China increased from 33.11% in 2010 to 37.69% in 2014, saving 126 Mtce of energy. Finally, this study found that mine design is the most important stage in improving energy efficiency, followed by the coal processing stage. Moreover, we found that coal processing has an indirect contribution to other stages in the life cycle utilization of coal, such as reducing transportation capacity. The primary research contribution is the development of a comprehensive LEEC model for the entire life cycle of coal, rather than just single-stage evaluation. This lays the foundation for further studies on energy efficiency of industrial chains and across entire systems.

ACS Style

Ning Wang; Ruifang Shen; Zongguo Wen; Djavan De Clercq. Life cycle energy efficiency evaluation for coal development and utilization. Energy 2019, 179, 1 -11.

AMA Style

Ning Wang, Ruifang Shen, Zongguo Wen, Djavan De Clercq. Life cycle energy efficiency evaluation for coal development and utilization. Energy. 2019; 179 ():1-11.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ning Wang; Ruifang Shen; Zongguo Wen; Djavan De Clercq. 2019. "Life cycle energy efficiency evaluation for coal development and utilization." Energy 179, no. : 1-11.