Hossein Nayeb; Maryam Mirabi; Homayoon Motiee; Abolghasem Alighardashi; Ahmad Khoshgard
Abstract
Industrial activities are one of the most important emission sources of greenhouse gases at a global level. The process of production, transportation, electricity consumption, and industrial wastewater are the four major components in producing greenhouse gases. Industrial wastewater management (collection, ...
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Industrial activities are one of the most important emission sources of greenhouse gases at a global level. The process of production, transportation, electricity consumption, and industrial wastewater are the four major components in producing greenhouse gases. Industrial wastewater management (collection, treatment, and disposal) results in direct emission of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide). Also, energy consumption in the wastewater treatment process causes indirect carbon dioxide emissions. The present study aimed to estimate the contribution of industrial wastewater treatment plants in Iran from this emission, in addition to identifying sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial wastewater treatment plant and estimating greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial wastewater sector in Iran. In this research, the emission calculations were conducted by using the methodology of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for calculating greenhouse gases emission. Based on the estimations performed in this study, 1,305.98 kt of CH4 were emitted directly from wastewater in 2017 in the entire industrial wastewater sector. Further, the results indicated that industrial wastewater treatment plants in Iran’s industrial parks generate 46.53 kt of CH4 directly and 259.5 kt of CO2 indirectly. According to the studies, the food industry, especially the industries involved in processing agricultural products (with 48.74 % of total methane emissions) has the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the country, followed by the paper production industry (with 27.46 % of total methane emissions) in the second place. One of the best strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industrial wastewater treatment plants is energy production from methane produced in large treatment plants and implementing necessary amendments in production processes to decrease wastewater production.
