The 11th International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE 2025)

Abstract: Reducing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality stand a critical global challenge. The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is a major contributor to carbon emissions. Under the background of China's "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" goals, the WWTPs in China face dual pressures of reducing pollution loads and cutting carbon emissions. This study conducts a carbon accounting analysis using typical WWTP in Shanghai as a case study. The carbon emission intensity was found to be 0.50 - 0.57 kg CO2-eq/m3, with total carbon emissions decreasing from 42,899 t CO2-eq in 2021 to 41,385 t CO2-eq in 2023. Direct emissions from electricity consumption and biochemical reactions are the primary contributors to carbon emissions in the WWTP. Electricity consumption is the largest source of carbon emissions, accounting for over 50% of total emissions. Based on traditional carbon accounting methods, a new classification framework for carbon reduction pathways is proposed, categorized as "carbon reduction, carbon sequestration, carbon substitution, and endogenous carbon negativity." Key technological pathways for achieving energy carbon neutrality in WWTPs are outlined from three perspectives: energy recovery and reuse from wastewater (internal cycling), utilization of clean and renewable energy (external supplementation), and integrated energy utilization. The research findings provide scientific support for achieving carbon neutrality goals in WWTPs.

Biography: Prof. Yiliang He is the associate dean of China-UK International Low Carbon College and a full Professor of School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He was a visiting scholar at Gifu University in Japan in 2003, a visiting professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States in 2006, and a guest professor at the National University of Singapore from 2013 to 2025. He is a leading talent in Minhang District, Shanghai, and a thematic expert for the National Major Science and Technology Special Project on Water. He has long been engaged in teaching, research, and engineering practice in the field of environmental engineering. He has published over a hundred papers in top academic journals at home and abroad and at important international conferences such as the annual meeting of the International Water Association, and has compiled and published two academic monographs. As the project leader, he has presided over two research projects of the National Major Science and Technology Special Project on "Water Pollution Control and Treatment" during the "11th Five-Year Plan" and "12th Five-Year Plan" periods. As the project principal, he has successively undertaken six projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. As the chief PI, he is responsible for the research of the E2S2 project under the CREATE major international cooperation project of the Singapore government.
Research interests: Water pollution control and water environment restoration, environmental behavior of emerging pollutants, and environmentally friendly purification technologies.