A new and integrated hydro-economic accounting and analytical framework for water resources: A case study for North China

Water is a critical issue in China for a variety of reasons. China is poor of water resources with 2300 m3 of per capita availability, which is less than of the world average. This is exacerbated by regional differences; e.g. North China's water availability is only about 271 m3 of per capita value, which is only of the world's average. Furthermore, pollution contributes to water scarcity and is a major source for diseases, particularly for the poor. The Ministry of Hydrology [1997. China's Regional Water Bullets. Water Resource and Hydro-power Publishing House, Beijing, China] reports that about 65–80% of rivers in North China no longer support any economic activities. Previous studies have emphasized the amount of water withdrawn but rarely take water quality into consideration. The quality of the return flows usually changes; the water quality being lower than the water flows that entered the production process initially. It is especially important to measure the impacts of wastewater to the hydro-ecosystem. Thus, water consumption should not only account for the amount of water inputs but also the amount of water contaminated in the hydro-ecosystem by the discharged wastewater. In this paper we present a new accounting and analytical approach based on economic input–output modelling combined with a mass balanced hydrological model that links interactions in the economic system with interactions in the hydrological system. We thus follow the tradition of integrated economic–ecologic input–output modelling. Our hydro-economic accounting framework and analysis tool allows tracking water consumption on the input side, water pollution leaving the economic system and water flows passing through the hydrological system thus enabling us to deal with water resources of different qualities. Following this method, the results illustrate that North China requires 96% of its annual available water, including both water inputs for the economy and contaminated water that is ineligible for any uses

Burden-shifting of water quantity and quality stress from mega-city Shanghai

Much attention has been paid to burden-shifting of CO2 emissions from developed regions to developing regions through trade. However, less discussed is that trade also acts as a mechanism enabling wealthy consumers to shift water quantity and quality stress to their trading partners. In this study we investigate how Shanghai, the largest mega-city in China, draws water resources from all over China and outsources its pollution through virtual quantity and quality water flows associated with trade. The results show that Shanghai’s consumption of goods and services in 2007 led to 11.6 billion m3 of freshwater consumption, 796 thousand tons of COD, and 16.2 thousand tons of NH3-N in discharged wastewater. Of this, 79% of freshwater consumption, 82.9% of COD and 82.5% of NH3-N occurred in other Chinese Provinces which provide goods and services to Shanghai. Thirteen Provinces with severe and extreme water quantity stress accounted for 60% of net virtual water import to Shanghai, while 19 Provinces experiencing water quality stress endured 79% of net COD outsourcing and 75.5% of net NH3-N outsourcing from Shanghai. In accordance with the three ‘redlines’ recently put forward by the Chinese central government to control water pollution and cap total water use in all provinces, we suggest that Shanghai should share its responsibility for reducing water quantity and quality stress in its trading partners through taking measures at provincial, industrial and consumer levels. In the meantime, Shanghai needs to enhance demand side management by promoting low water intensity consumption

Ground Plan of Chikuzen-Tsurugidake Castle and Buzen-Kanbuku-san Castle

There are nearly 1,000 Sengoku era (the period of provincial wars) castles in Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen-Tsurugidake castle (筑前劔嶽城) and Buzen-Kanbuku-san castle (豊前上仏来山城) are ones of them. They did not have received scholarly attention because of their small-scale. However, investigation of both the castles\u27 ground plan by author had proved that this castle has highly strengthened its defense by equipped with une-jyo karabori (a group of longitudinally-extending dry moats). Moreover, it was concluded that warlords Akizuki (秋月) Clan repaired the moat positively in the last stage of Tensho era (the 1580s) for the purpose of boundary domain defense, since both castles were located in the \u22castle of a boundary line\u22

ロタウイルスAの感染環における野生動物の役割に関する研究

博士(獣医学)岐阜大学(Gifu University

Cooling Water Sufficiency in a Warming World: Projection Using an Integrated Assessment Model and a Global Hydrological Model

Thermoelectric power plants in inland regions use primarily riverine water for cooling. The future availability of riverine water will be affected by climatic change. Power generation is expected to grow throughout the 21st century, accompanied by growth in cooling water demand. We estimated cooling water sufficiency globally under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2 scenario with and without climate mitigation throughout the 21st century (2006–2099) at a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°. We used the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model Computable General Equilibrium Model (AIM/CGE) to project future thermoelectric cooling-water requirements in 17 global regions with no hydrological constraint on water availability, and the H08 global hydrological model to assess whether consumptive water requirements could be met under particular spatiotemporal and hydrological constraints. The results show that cooling water sufficiency will decrease by 7.9% and 11.4% in 2040–2069 (11.3% and 18.6% in 2070–2099) with and without climate mitigation, respectively. A distinct difference was found between with and without climate mitigation in the Middle East and Africa. The predicted insufficiency was attributable primarily to changes in river flow regimes, particularly a general decrease in low flow levels, and to increased water requirements for thermoelectric power generation and other sectors. The results imply that the growing water demand projected by AIM/CGE will not be fulfilled sustainably in many parts of the world, hence considerable additional efforts of reducing water consumption will be required to secure electric power supply. This confirms the importance of coupling integrated assessment models and global hydrological models for consistent water-energy nexus analyses