Wind-driven desalination is a representative technology of renewable energy that not only alleviates water shortages but also reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by the utilization of fossil fuels. This study examined the GHG emissions from a wind-driven seawater desalination system by using the hybrid input-output life-cycle analysis (IO-LCA) to undertake a comprehensive low-carbon assessment by comparing with traditional thermal seawater desalination systems over the whole life cycle. The findings indicate that the GHG emissions of the wind-driven seawater desalination system are 96.14% lower than those of the traditional system. According to estimations, if reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is driven by wind power technologies at a larger scale, the annual GHG emissions can be reduced by an amount between 7.54E+05 and 3.71E+06 t CO-eq. Although the construction stage increases the emissions to 55.41% over the whole life cycle, the payback period () is about 2.69 years, which means that the level of GHG emissions could be reduced by 25.42% of the level of the traditional systems. Based on the multi-dimensional low-carbon assessment, this study is expected to provide quantitative assessments and policy implications to integrate low-carbon technologies with seawater desalination and promote sustainable development of seawater desalination industries.

中文翻译：

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基于混合生命周期模型的风力海水淡化系统多维低碳评估


风力海水淡化是可再生能源的代表性技术，不仅可以缓解水资源短缺，还可以减少使用化石燃料产生的温室气体（GHG）排放。本研究采用混合输入输出生命周期分析（IO-LCA）研究风驱动海水淡化系统的温室气体排放，并与传统热力海水淡化系统在整个生命周期进行比较，进行全面的低碳评估循环。研究结果表明，风驱动海水淡化系统的温室气体排放量比传统系统降低了96.14%。据测算，如果更大规模地采用风电技术驱动反渗透（RO）海水淡化，每年可减少温室气体排放量7.54E+05至3.71E+06吨CO当量。虽然施工阶段使整个生命周期的排放量增加到55.41%，但投资回收期()约为2.69年，这意味着温室气体排放水平可比传统系统减少25.42%。基于多维度的低碳评估，本研究有望为低碳技术与海水淡化的融合，促进海水淡化产业的可持续发展提供定量评估和政策启示。