Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment

Gold industry is essential for socioeconomic development while it brings water consumption and severe water pollution. There are few systematic evaluations of environmental impacts related to water generated by the whole life cycle of gold production. In this study, water availability and water degr...

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Auteurs principaux:	Wei Chen, Jinglan Hong, Chengxin Wang, Lu Sun, Tianzuo Zhang, Yijie Zhai, Qian Zhang
Format:	article
Langue:	EN
Publié:	Elsevier 2021
Sujets:	Water footprint Life cycle assessment Water availability Water degradation Gold refining Ecology QH540-549.5
Accès en ligne:	https://doaj.org/article/adbc3dce76624ff0a723c5cc9cbae040
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:adbc3dce76624ff0a723c5cc9cbae040
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:adbc3dce76624ff0a723c5cc9cbae0402021-12-01T04:42:29ZWater footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107319https://doaj.org/article/adbc3dce76624ff0a723c5cc9cbae0402021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20312619https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XGold industry is essential for socioeconomic development while it brings water consumption and severe water pollution. There are few systematic evaluations of environmental impacts related to water generated by the whole life cycle of gold production. In this study, water availability and water degradation caused by gold refining are evaluated by using water footprint (WF) assessment based on life cycle assessment in order to provide insights for water sustainability in gold industry. Uncertainty analysis is also conducted based on Monte Carlo in order to provide reliable results for decision-making on water management. Results show that carcinogens and non-carcinogens are dominant contributors to the damage category of human health, while freshwater ecotoxicity has dominant contribution to ecosystem quality. In addition, emissions of chromium to water and arsenic to air mainly generated by energy consumption are major contributors to human health, while they are ammonium and copper diffused to water mainly generated by sodium metabisulfite production for ecosystem quality. Results also indicate that energy reduction and energy structure adjustment present significant contributions to mitigate the WF generated by gold production. Finally, recommendations (e.g., promoting the synergetic management of energy and water, optimizing cleaner production index) are proposed to mitigate the impacts associated with water and promote water sustainability in gold industry. More studies such as spatial–temporal analysis should be done to provide helpful reference for decision-making to achieve sustainable development.Wei ChenJinglan HongChengxin WangLu SunTianzuo ZhangYijie ZhaiQian ZhangElsevierarticleWater footprintLife cycle assessmentWater availabilityWater degradationGold refiningEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 122, Iss , Pp 107319- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Water footprint Life cycle assessment Water availability Water degradation Gold refining Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Water footprint Life cycle assessment Water availability Water degradation Gold refining Ecology QH540-549.5 Wei Chen Jinglan Hong Chengxin Wang Lu Sun Tianzuo Zhang Yijie Zhai Qian Zhang Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
description	Gold industry is essential for socioeconomic development while it brings water consumption and severe water pollution. There are few systematic evaluations of environmental impacts related to water generated by the whole life cycle of gold production. In this study, water availability and water degradation caused by gold refining are evaluated by using water footprint (WF) assessment based on life cycle assessment in order to provide insights for water sustainability in gold industry. Uncertainty analysis is also conducted based on Monte Carlo in order to provide reliable results for decision-making on water management. Results show that carcinogens and non-carcinogens are dominant contributors to the damage category of human health, while freshwater ecotoxicity has dominant contribution to ecosystem quality. In addition, emissions of chromium to water and arsenic to air mainly generated by energy consumption are major contributors to human health, while they are ammonium and copper diffused to water mainly generated by sodium metabisulfite production for ecosystem quality. Results also indicate that energy reduction and energy structure adjustment present significant contributions to mitigate the WF generated by gold production. Finally, recommendations (e.g., promoting the synergetic management of energy and water, optimizing cleaner production index) are proposed to mitigate the impacts associated with water and promote water sustainability in gold industry. More studies such as spatial–temporal analysis should be done to provide helpful reference for decision-making to achieve sustainable development.
format	article
author	Wei Chen Jinglan Hong Chengxin Wang Lu Sun Tianzuo Zhang Yijie Zhai Qian Zhang
author_facet	Wei Chen Jinglan Hong Chengxin Wang Lu Sun Tianzuo Zhang Yijie Zhai Qian Zhang
author_sort	Wei Chen
title	Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
title_short	Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
title_full	Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
title_fullStr	Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
title_full_unstemmed	Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment
title_sort	water footprint assessment of gold refining: case study based on life cycle assessment
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/adbc3dce76624ff0a723c5cc9cbae040
work_keys_str_mv	AT weichen waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT jinglanhong waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT chengxinwang waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT lusun waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT tianzuozhang waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT yijiezhai waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment AT qianzhang waterfootprintassessmentofgoldrefiningcasestudybasedonlifecycleassessment
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Water footprint assessment of gold refining: Case study based on life cycle assessment

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