TY - JOUR
T1 - Unlocking sludge co-firing synergies between thermal power and wastewater treatment plants
AU - Lin, Jin
AU - Zhou, Qi
AU - Hu, Linyuan
AU - Hu, Yu Chen
AU - She, Yunlei
AU - Song, Yifan
AU - Huang, Qiang
AU - Jing, Jiaqi
AU - Wang, Xiuya
AU - Qu, Shen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2026.
PY - 2026/8
Y1 - 2026/8
N2 - Co-firing municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) sludge in thermal-fired power plants (TFPPs) offers a low-carbon circular strategy. However, its adoption is constrained by spatio-temporal supply–demand mismatches and economic feasibility. Here we show that an optimized, plant-level monthly allocation framework can overcome these barriers, powered by a high-resolution database of 5,218 MWWTPs and 1,990 TFPPs across China. We find that surplus sludge from 3,735 MWWTPs (~87% capacity) can stably substitute coal on a monthly basis across 421 qualified TFPPs. This symbiotic network reduces total sludge volume by 79% (95% CI 55–88%) and mitigates 15.25 (10.53–17.39) MtCO2eq annually (50% of MWWTP emissions), while yielding median incremental profits of 369.41 (4.18–1,250.46) million CNY yr‒1. Scenario analysis reveals that rising fuel prices can amplify environmental and economic benefits by 11% and 135%. Crucially, despite a shrinking coal-power sector under future energy transitions, long-term co-firing network resilience is sustained through a 35–67% expansion in collaborative TFPPs. These insights provide a scalable framework for implementing cross-sectoral circular strategies tailored to regional sustainability.
AB - Co-firing municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) sludge in thermal-fired power plants (TFPPs) offers a low-carbon circular strategy. However, its adoption is constrained by spatio-temporal supply–demand mismatches and economic feasibility. Here we show that an optimized, plant-level monthly allocation framework can overcome these barriers, powered by a high-resolution database of 5,218 MWWTPs and 1,990 TFPPs across China. We find that surplus sludge from 3,735 MWWTPs (~87% capacity) can stably substitute coal on a monthly basis across 421 qualified TFPPs. This symbiotic network reduces total sludge volume by 79% (95% CI 55–88%) and mitigates 15.25 (10.53–17.39) MtCO2eq annually (50% of MWWTP emissions), while yielding median incremental profits of 369.41 (4.18–1,250.46) million CNY yr‒1. Scenario analysis reveals that rising fuel prices can amplify environmental and economic benefits by 11% and 135%. Crucially, despite a shrinking coal-power sector under future energy transitions, long-term co-firing network resilience is sustained through a 35–67% expansion in collaborative TFPPs. These insights provide a scalable framework for implementing cross-sectoral circular strategies tailored to regional sustainability.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105047388648
U2 - 10.1038/s44221-026-00697-8
DO - 10.1038/s44221-026-00697-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105047388648
SN - 2731-6084
VL - 4
SP - 979
EP - 991
JO - Nature Water
JF - Nature Water
IS - 8
ER -