Greenhouse gas emission characteristics of small-town wastewater treatment plants

TAO Xuan; CAO Jiashun; ZHOU Liang; XU Runze

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202609021

Volume 44 Issue 9

Sep. 2026

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TAO Xuan, CAO Jiashun, ZHOU Liang, XU Runze. Greenhouse gas emission characteristics of small-town wastewater treatment plants[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(9): 202-213. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202609021

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TAO Xuan, CAO Jiashun, ZHOU Liang, XU Runze. Greenhouse gas emission characteristics of small-town wastewater treatment plants[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(9): 202-213. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202609021

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Greenhouse gas emission characteristics of small-town wastewater treatment plants

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202609021

College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China

Received Date: 2025-08-04
Available Online: 2026-11-05

Abstract

Abstract

In urban carbon inventories， wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs） represent a considerable emission source that cannot be overlooked. As urbanization progresses， the continuous increase in newly constructed and expanded small-town WWTPs necessitates a clear understanding of their carbon emission characteristics to promote the effective implementation of the dual-carbon policy. This study， based on the IPCC methodology and national accounting guidelines， cond ucted carbon emission accounting and characteristic analysis on four small-town WWTPs in a certain area of Suzhou. These plants have similar treatment scales and chemical usage but differ in biological treatment processes. The analysis was performed on annual， seasonal， and consecutive monthly scales. The results showed that electricity and chemical consumption were the primary sources of carbon emissions， with comparable contributions. The carbon emission intensity ranged from 0.43 to 0.99 kg CO₂/m³. Emissions varied by process type in the following order： mpa A²O-OD + mA²O < ASAO < SBR + CASS < AA/RPIR + rA²O. Seasonal analysis revealed that the share of chemical-related emissions was higher in summer and winter. The correlation analysis of factors such as electricity consumption， chemicals consumption， operation characteristics of biochemical section， and water quality on carbon emission level showed that carbon emissions were affected by multi-factor coupling， with no single significant determinant. Compared with medium-scale and large-scale WWTPs， small-town plants exhibited higher carbon emissions per unit of treated wastewater. Based on these findings， targeted low-carbon optimization strategies were proposed for small-town WWTPs.
- small-town wastewater treatment plant,
- treatment process,
- carbon emission accounting,
- greenhouse gas,
- low-carbon operation

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References(36)

References

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