Sustainable or Not for Water Consumption after Implementing CCS in China’s Coal-Fired Power Plants for Achieving 2 °C Target
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is a very informative comparative study aimed at assessing the impact of retrofitting coal-fired power plants in China with CCS on urban water resources. The structure is reasonable, the content is clear, and the visual analysis is good. This paper can be accepted. The quality of this article could be improved before published, the following suggestions are made:
（1） Many data in this investigation do not indicate the source, so it is recommended to supplement, such as Table 3, Figure 2 and Figure 5.
（2） Draw a flowchart of your work that briefly shows the analysis process in Line 105 of Data and Methods.
（3） Please refer to the latest paper about CCS field of Transformation of coal power generation, Such as 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.116447, 10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.067, 10.1007/s11356-021-18169-9.
（4） Please check the references in the text and the list; some of them are not according to the journal style.
（5） Research literature on CO2 utilization such as coal combustion or oil exploitation can be added to introduction.
（6） The picture quality needs to be modified. For example, the relevant text in Figure 1 has exceeded the box.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions. We tried our best to revise our work and addressed all comments as follows.
（1） Many data in this investigation do not indicate the source, so it is recommended to supplement, such as Table 3, Figure 2 and Figure 5.
Table 3, Sources of data, which we have labelled with references after the indication.
The urban water resources data in Figure 2 are obtained from the Water Resources Bulletin and the Provincial Water Resources Bulletin for each city, which the authors compiled themselves.
The data in Fig. 5. were obtained from calculations based on CO2 capture.
(2) Draw a flowchart of your work that briefly shows the analysis process in Line 105 of Data and Methods.
We have added flowcharts to the Data and Methods depatment.
(3) Please refer to the latest paper about CCS field of Transformation of coal power generation, Such as 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.116447, 10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.067, 10.1007/s11356-021-18169-9.
We have added citations to the relevant literature, as detailed in the paper.
(4) Please check the references in the text and the list; some of them are not according to the journal style.
We have revised literature that does not conform to the journal format.
(5) Research literature on CO2 utilization such as coal combustion or oil exploitation can be added to introduction.
In response to your comments we have added literature on CO2 utilisation, see the paper for details.
（6） The picture quality needs to be modified. For example, the relevant text in Figure 1 has exceeded the box.
Based on your suggestions, we have made adjustments to Figure 1.
Reviewer 2 Report
Everything related to China's huge consumption of coal and its GHG emissions is cause for concern. Thus, information about constraints in the implementation of CCS in coal-fired power plants is important. In my view, the appeal of the manuscript owes much more to the data presented and the conclusion that it will be difficult to implement CCS on a large scale than to its scientific merit. I have this opinion despite acknowledging the effort involved in processing a large database and the care in the analyses.
I have few corrections to indicate. First, all data must be in SI and some notations are incorrect (eg kwh). In particular, mass must be in tonnes (metric tons), and t - not ton - is the correct notation.
All data on water withdrawal and consumption should be presented on a time basis - I would assume per year - and this is not adequate throughout the text (eg in the discussion section).
There are some typos throughout the text. In one case - at least - a sentence has no verb.
The procedure related with Equation (1) (not formula) is unclear. What does it mean "water resources"? Average rainfall is related to which time span?
In lines 137 to 140, what is given in parentheses is not necessary (and this approach seems awkward).
In Table 3, for example, precision of values with four decimal places is unnecessary.
Numbering the conclusions seems inadequate to me.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions. We tried our best to revise our work and addressed all comments as follows.
（1）I have few corrections to indicate. First, all data must be in SI and some notations are incorrect (eg kwh). In particular, mass must be in tonnes (metric tons), and t - not ton - is the correct notation.
We reviewed the full text and units that did not meet international standards were revised, as detailed in the attached, revised section of the paper.
(2) All data on water withdrawal and consumption should be presented on a time basis - I would assume per year - and this is not adequate throughout the text (eg in the discussion section).
You are understandably correct in that all time frames in this document are obtained on a per year basis.
The water withdrawal and consumption of a power plant is also based on the annual power generation of the plant.
（3）There are some typos throughout the text. In one case - at least - a sentence has no verb.
We have revisited the paper and some misrepresentations have been corrected.
（4）The procedure related with Equation (1) (not formula) is unclear. What does it mean "water resources"? Average rainfall is related to which time span?
This is because just obtaining the amount of urban water resources in a given year is biased and requires a relatively long time span. We have researched and collated urban water resources for all prefecture-level cities or municipalities in China.
The data obtained for the city's water resources are averaged over the last 20 years and included the average annual amount of water available to the city over the last 20 years, the average 20-year rainfall, and the current rainfall in 2015.
（5）In lines 137 to 140, what is given in parentheses is not necessary (and this approach seems awkward).
We have revised the explanation of repetition in brackets, see attached revised paper
（6）In Table 3, for example, precision of values with four decimal places is unnecessary.
We have revised the data in Table 3 to retain only one decimal place
（6）Numbering the conclusions seems inadequate to me.
We have revised the conclusions and summarised them into five conclusions, based on the results of the article.Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Reviewer 3 Report
Please define again WTA and CTA in the introduction.
Figure 2, it would be better to show 2 or more major cities in at least one map for the international audience not familiar with China's regions.
Section 2.2 some formatting is needed.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions. We tried our best to revise our work and addressed all comments as follows.
(1) Please define again WTA and CTA in the introduction.
Following your suggestion, we have defined WTA and CTA in the introduction.
(2) Figure 2, it would be better to show 2 or more major cities in at least one map for the international audience not familiar with China's regions.
Based on your suggestions, we have added the locations of the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Figure 2.
(3) Section 2.2 some formatting is needed.
We have reworked 2.2 to include text, formulae, and text formatting in tables, as detailed in the Appendix paper.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
All questions have been answered. I think this article can be accepted and published
