Minimizing energy footprint of seawater desalination system via wind power generation in coastal areas

Wind power has become an essential direction for transforming energy structures in energy-intensive seawater desalination under the dual goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In this study, the energy footprint of the case project is analyzed by combining the hybrid life cycle analysis and environmentally extended input-output modeling, which is compared with the traditional thermal desalination processes from the whole life cycle perspective. The analysis revealed that the total energy consumption of the seawater desalination driven by wind power generation can be reduced by 79.77% compared with the traditional thermal drive mode under the same water production scale. Although the energy consumption in the construction phase accounts for 24.97% of the total, the energy consumption per unit of water production can be reduced by about 80% after adopting wind power technologies. The payback period is 7.2 years, that is, the energy consumption can be balanced after around 7 years during the operation phase. The results showed that the wind-driven seawater desalination system can significantly decrease the energy consumption of the project, which attempts to provide implications for the upgrading of energy-intensive seawater desalination in coastal areas towards low-carbon transition.