Towards Sustainability and Green: Decarbonizing Water Supply and Drainage
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 September 2023) | Viewed by 383
Special Issue Editors
Interests: wastewater treatment and biological nutrient removal; energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies in wastewater management; LCA in wastewater management
Interests: water and wastewater engineering; water quality; water and wastewater treatment; water analysis; drinking water quality; water chemistry; environmental analysis; environmental remediation; environmental biodegradation; biological effluent; treatment processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As an important part of urban infrastructure and ensuring the normal life of residents and the healthy development of the economy, the urban water sector, mainly comprising water supply and drainage, plays a key role in sustainable urbanization and continuous welfare improvement. However, the urban water sector is also facing the challenges of being labeled as a high energy consumer and greenhouse gas (GHG) contributor. In general, the GHG emissions from water supply and drainage utilities account for 3% to 7% of the total emissions of a given country. Global water utilities emit the same volume of GHGs as the world’s shipping industry. Moreover, the water sector is one of the most vulnerable industries to climate change, which undermines the general services of providing safe drinking water and hygienic environments. As such, regarding both aspects, the water sector should proactively take actions to reduce GHG emissions and decarbonize their processes.
In fact, in regard to reducing GHG emissions, the water sector must examine its own nature, as water/wastewater is recognized as a carrier of energy and resources. Over the past decade, several countries have been on track to decarbonize their water sectors. In November 2020, water companies in the UK unveiled a ground-breaking plan to deliver net zero water supply and drainage for customers by 2030 in the world’s first sector-wide commitment of its kind. Later, Denmark, New Zealand, and several Australian states successively released their time-bound targets to achieve net zero emissions and carbon- and climate-neutrality in the water sector. Moreover, dozens of water and wastewater utilities world-wide have joined the Race to Zero campaign, which rallies entities to reach a decarbonization target of net zero.
On the one hand, these advancements and success stories give the water sector the confidence to achieve carbon neutrality. On the other hand, how to plan and find a scientific pathway to fulfill the goal of decarbonization in water sector also needs a convergence of expertise and knowledge. Thus, this Special Issue, titled “Towards sustainability and green: decarbonizing water supply and drainage”, is introduced in order to integrate inspiring practices and advancements in carbon reduction in water supply and drainage. The scope of the Special Issue covers a wide array of topics, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Carbon accounting and methodologies in the water sector;
- Non-CO2 emission monitoring practices in sewer or treatment plant;
- N2O production and minimization in wastewater management;
- Energy efficiency improvement and reduction in the water sector;
- New technologies or process optimization to reduce non-CO2 emissions in wastewater collection and treatment;
- Carbon reduction strategies and pathways;
- Good practices in energy recovery and the valorization of wastewater;
- Carbon emission benchmarking and policies to promote carbon reduction;
- Green solutions to manage water and wastewater.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Ranbin Liu
Dr. Kai He
Dr. Cheng Shen
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- water supply and drainage
- GHG emission
- carbon accounting
- carbon reduction
- non-CO2 emission monitoring
- energy efficiency optimization
- energy recovery
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.